My Kind of Guy
by Cedarleaf
Summary: AU. Roxas Strife is a complete nobody. Too bad he's fallen hard for Sora Leonhart, the biggest somebody at Twilight High. [SoraxRoxas]
1. Chapter 1

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 1

-o-o-o-

Roxas had known since he was little that he was somewhat… different than other boys. It wasn't until he was in middle school that he realized he was different because he was gay. It wasn't until he was in high school that his sexual preference conspired with Cupid to give him a good kick in the ass by making him fall head over heels.

And the object of his obsession – Sora Leonhart.

Sora was… amazing. Dead gorgeous with his spiky chocolate brown hair, round, smooth face. His tan skin, just a shade darker than everybody else, accentuated his luminous blue eyes. But of all Sora's features, the one that always made Roxas' heart flutter was his smile. It was just like the rest of him, bright, sunny, and contagious. When Sora smiled, either with you or at you, out loud or just in his head, you knew he was laughing. Sora's smiles were simply to die for. And he was always smiling, in class, at lunch, in the halls, every time Roxas had ever seen him really. Sora was just one of those people you loved to be around. One grin and you thought him your best friend.

Sora was perfect.

And Roxas was hopelessly in love with him.

So was the rest of the world. Sora was incredibly popular.

Now, Roxas was a little better off than most people in his sort of situation in that he had a few real connections with Sora _and_ there was actually a slight chance that Sora did know he existed (even if that chance was only half of one percent). Roxas's older brother Cloud and Sora's older brother, Leon, were rivals of sorts in the school dueling club and Cloud was going out with Aerith, Sora's cousin. Roxas had seen her a lot when she came over, but they never really spoke much other than hello as Cloud had made it VERY clear that when the girlfriend's over, little brothers are not to be seen _or_ heard, and Roxas wasn't nearly brave enough to challenge that mandate.

See, Roxas' problem was approachability, or lack thereof. Roxas couldn't use any of his connections to get to Sora. He couldn't approach Sora during school because as Sora was way popular, he was always surrounded by people of the highest social standing, something Roxas had a distinct lack of. Cloud may have been one of the most popular seniors in the whole flippin' school, but as Roxas hadn't picked up the whole "I'm Cool But I'm Sulking So Bugger Off" attitude, most people didn't believe they were even related. Roxas was lucky enough to be in the same history class as Sora, but their psychopath of a teacher didn't assign too many interactive activities for either in or out of class, so the chance of them being partnered up for something was next to nothing. Even Jafar's assigned seating was against him. The creep had put Sora two rows back and off to the side whereas Roxas was up front and center. He couldn't talk with Sora, couldn't pass him notes (not that Tall, Dark, and Scaly would allow either), but hell, Roxas couldn't even sneak glances at him during class without making it really obvious. That last one was a constant source of frustration for the blond as he figured that if their seats had been switched, he probably could have gotten away with ogling his crush for the full 50 minutes of class. Why was God so cruel? _WHY?_

Roxas couldn't approach him after school either because Sora had followed in his brother's footsteps to become one of the top Underclass duelers in the entire region. Roxas wasn't bad himself, having idolized and mimicked Cloud for most of his life and training for the Struggle with Hayner, but between Cloud, Leon, Seifer, Sora, and Sora's best friend Riku (Roxas always forgot his last name), the competition to get in was fierce and closely watched by the upper legions of the social pyramid. A complete nobody like Roxas stood no chance of making the team. That and he missed the deadline for tryouts. He knew Cloud could have gotten him in no problem, but their relationship as brothers was one of non-verbal communication. They knew each other by watching each other, not by talking. So, Roxas wasn't really comfortable asking first and he doubted Cloud had ever talked about him enough for whomever to get the idea that Roxas could even fight. Cloud never really talked to or about anyone though, so Roxas didn't take it personally.

The biggest hurdles of all were that Sora was a boy, Roxas was a boy, high school society's notoriously homophobic, and the rumor mill had it that Sora was going out with Kairi Hikari, one of the hottest girls in school. This meant not only was he taken, but also Sora probably wasn't into guys.

All in all, Roxas was stumped as to what to do about his not-so-little crush on Sora. Something he constantly told his friend Olette whenever she tried to play matchmaker and get Roxas to go for it. Today, for example.

"Roxas, just talk to him for heaven's sake!" she said when she, Roxas, Hayner, and Pence had reached the sanctuary of the Usual Spot. "Go introduce yourself, pretend to bump into him in the hall, or something!"

"And say what? 'Hi, Sora, I'm Roxas, I'm gay and I like you. Wanna go out with me?' Yeah, right. He'd probably move out of state just to get away from me!" Roxas snorted, flopping himself down on the couch.

"I know what you're trying to do Olette," Hayner piped up, "But I gotta agree with Roxas on this one."

"Mmm, besides, isn't he going out with that Karlie girl?" Pence asked in between eating his ice cream.

"Yeah, he is, and only a fool would pass her up for me," Roxas added, trying not to let his disappointment show. The fact that it was true added that much more salt to the wound. Kairi was a much better catch than him any day.

"One," Olette said, her hands on her hips, "it's Kairi, not Karlie. Two, no, they're not going out. Three, Sora is _gay_."

"Oh, really?" Roxas challenged her, not even bothering to hide his disbelief. "And just how do you figure all that?"

"Namine," Olette replied with more than a little smugness. The boys however were unimpressed. "Who?" they all asked. Olette frowned at them.

"Namine Hikari, Kairi's twin sister, the artist, you know…"

"The blonde chick with the sketch pad?"

"Yes."

"And I suppose she just waltzed up and told you all that, did she?"

"No, she didn't." Olette was frowning again. "Namine is in my chemistry class and we got paired up today for this week's lab. So when we were setting up, I said, 'You're Kairi's sister, aren't you?' Then she's like, 'Yeah.' Then I asked her if Kairi and Sora were really going out and she said –and I _quote_!- 'No, they're just friends. Sora's into boys, anyway.' _So there_!" Olette finished triumphantly, poking Roxas in the chest to emphasize her point.

He hardly noticed. '_Sora's gay? Really?_' The possibility made half of him want to jump for joy, do a happy dance, whoop, holler, _something, ANYTHING_! The other half refused to get his hopes up. '_You're still a nobody, remember?_' it told him.

'_Yeah, yeah, you don't have to remind me_,' he thought back.

"I still have trouble believing that," Pence was saying. "I mean, if somebody as popular as Sora Leonhart _was_ into boys, wouldn't people know about it?"

Hayner nodded. "And even if he is, Namine wouldn't just up and say it like that. Sorry Olette, but I'm not buying'."

"She did!"

"Excuse me."

Roxas whipped around to face the newcomer… and felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as none other than Sora Leonhart stepped out from behind the curtain.

-o-o-o-

A.N. Yes, my friends, yet another SoraxRoxas fic. What can I say? I love 'em! This fic's gonna be an AU (if you haven't figured that out already), but I haven't quite decided if I'm gonna make it a humor fic or a drama yet, so for right now, let's just say it's a romance. I may change the title sometime later, too. The more I planned this fic out, the more this one seemed to fit, but like my beta said, _My Kind of Guy_ is better for like a one-shot or something. But whatever.


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Yeah, I know I said I'd have this to you a lot sooner but I wrote about maybe 60 percent of this before I hit writer's block. After that, the remaining 40 percent didn't want to come out right. Needless to say, I hate this chapter to high heaven, I kid you not. But, after for four weeks of working on it, I give up. So here ya go. And don't forget to review.

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**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 2

-o-o-o-

Roxas whipped around to face the newcomer… and felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as none other than Sora Leonhart stepped out from behind the curtain.

"What do you want?" Hayner asked a bit rudely.

Sora rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Err, sorry to intrude, but I need to talk to Roxas."

Said blond could all but see his three friends exchange quick glances with one another behind his back, but he was too busy mildly panicking to pay them any attention. How much had Sora heard? Realizing the other boy was waiting for him to say something, he asked, "Yeah?"

"I don't think you've heard yet, but the dueling team needs an extra man for Saturday. There's a tournament, but Tidus had to drop out, so we're one man short. Cloud said you'd make a good replacement, though, so Coach sent me to get you."

"Why?" Hayner butted in again. Roxas briefly wondered if he could strangle his so-called "best friend" and make it look like an accident. Sora didn't seem to notice.

"One of the starters for the blitzball team - I think his name's Letty - hurt his ankle pretty badly at practice this morning. The trainer said he'll be out for at least five weeks. And the blitz season's in their semi-finals already, so they can't afford to have Tidus be gone at dueling matches half the time anymore. Since that means that the dueling team's one man short of a full team for the rest of the season, Auron's looking for somebody to fill in. It's not like we can't just pick up the slack, but he wants a full team anyway. Cloud said you'd be a good man for the job," he explained.

"Cloud said that?" Roxas asked, surprised.

Sora nodded, glancing at his watch. "Yup, and if you're interested, we gotta go like now. Because we're due back at practice ASAP and it took forever to find you."

Roxas blinked. They wanted him on the dueling team? He wasn't sure how well he'd hold up, but…. Turning to his friends, he asked, "You guys mind if I ditch you early today?"

Hayner snorted. "Meh, whatever." He chucked the other blond's backpack at him. "Go on, get out of here."

Roxas caught it, grinning, grateful they weren't mad at him for leaving so soon. They weren't going to let him go without one last jibe, however.

"Play nice now, Roxas," Pence said teasingly as his friend made to leave.

"Don't pound 'em too hard," Hayner added with more than a little glee. The boy addressed glared daggers at them, Olette too because try as she might to hide it, Roxas could see she was smiling. Fighting down the blush that was threatening to make an appearance on his face, Roxas stepped out through the curtain after Sora, who had already gone through.

"What was that about?" he asked curiously as Roxas went to retrieve his skateboard from its hiding place behind the dumpster.

"Inside joke," Roxas told him, hoping the brunette would dismiss the incident. Dammit, the blush was still putting up a terrific fight. He silently cursed the three- he could still hear them snickering in the Usual Spot. Rotten little traitors-

"Hey, you skateboard?"

The question completely derailed Roxas' previous thoughts of revenge. "Huh?" he said intelligently.

"Do you skateboard?" Sora repeated with a smile, bouncing on his heels a little bit as they made their way up the hill.

"Yeah," the blond said slowly.

"After practice today, will you show me some stuff?"

"Like what?"

"Like anything. Flips, grabs, grinding, whatever you want."

By now they had made it to Entrance 3 of the underground concourse, Twilight High being just a block from Entrance 6.

"Um, sure," Roxas told him. Like hell he was going to pass up a chance for extra time with Sora. "I mean, I'm not the best or anything, but if you really want to."

"Cool. Thanks, man." Sora flashed the other boy a smile over his shoulder, who felt himself go a little weak in the knees.

They continued on in companionable silence after that, though the entire time Roxas was trying to work up the nerve to start another conversation. '_Calm down_,' he told himself. '_Yeah, you're alone with Sora Freaking Gorgeous Leonhart in a deserted tunnel and close enough to smell his shampoo, but that's no excuse to get all wound up about it. It's not like you're going to strike up some spectacular topic of discussion that eventually leads to the two of you going out to dinner and a movie together followed by an hour long make-out session on Sunset Hill. Get real, Roxas._'

It was a sad thing when your own self-consciousness refused to let you hope you stood a chance with the boy you were crushing on, but Roxas couldn't bring himself to even entertain the idea that Sora might like him back. He'd never do something like pinning Roxas against the wall, whispering how long he'd been waiting for a chance like this in the blond's ear while Sora's hands disappeared up his shirt and their lips coming dangerously close together and-

"You okay, dude?"

Roxas' thoughts came crashing back down to Earth. "Huh?"

Sora glanced sideways at his companion with a mildly concerned look. "You okay?" he repeated. "You seemed kind of far away there for a minute."

'_Good going, Blondie!_' "What? Oh yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about.…" He scrambled for an excuse, "all the homework I have to do tonight. You'd think they'd learn not to dump it all on us all at once, but that's what I get for having Ursula for Biology, huh?"

Great, he'd gone from daydreaming to blabbering.

Sora however, didn't seem to mind. "Yeah, I've heard she's pretty tough. Kairi and Riku told me she's a real witch."

"They have Ursula?"

"Mm hmm. Kairi has her for Bio right after lunch and Riku's got her first period for Chem."

Roxas winced. "The octopus lady bright and early? Damn, that's gotta suck."

Sora let out a burst of laughter. Roxas raised an eyebrow at him. "You're laughing at your best friend's suffering?" he asked jokingly.

This made the brunette laugh even harder if anything but he managed to catch his breath enough to say, "No, it's just that's almost exactly what Riku said after he saw his schedule."

"Speaking of schedule, how the hell did you manage to luck out?"

"Someone upstairs likes me?" Sora shrugged.

Roxas snorted. "Nice.

"Oi! You losers gonna hurry it up to practice or just stand around and chit chat all day?"

It took Roxas a moment to realize the comment had been directed at him and Sora. Looking up the road, he saw the entire Twilight High Dueling out on the track field, staring at the two of them from behind the fence.

They had arrived.


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Here it is, people. Sorry to keep you waiting. I would have had this to you sooner, but the inspiration hit me upside the head right about the time my midterms did. Even so, it took a while to get it down and work all the kinks out with my beta. That being said, if there's anything still wrong with it, I DON'T CARE!! I'm sick of rewriting this chapter and I just cannot find the motivation to mess with it anymore. So, for better or worse, here it is. Bon apatite. And don't forget to review. Reviews do wonders for my inspiration. 3

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**My Kind of Guy**

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Chapter 3

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Upon their arrival at practice, the head coach sent Sora off to do warm-ups with the others while he spoke with Roxas.

"Your brother tells me you're handy with a sword," Auron said without preamble.

Roxas felt very small and intimidated by this strange giant of a man. Auron looked like he'd weathered every tempest life had thrown at him and had come out still standing. Even though he couldn't see the man's eyes, Roxas felt like Auron could see right through him. "I'm decent enough, I guess," he said meekly.

"You guess."

"Well, I've only ever fought against Cloud, Hayner, and Seifer, so…."

Auron gave a noncommittal grunt, eyeing Roxas over again. "Let's see how you fare against someone else, then," he said at length.

And that's how Roxas found himself on the wrong end of Riku's practice sword. He wasn't sure what he'd done or said to Auron to merit a one-on-one initiation match with a boy who was arguably among the top ten duelists in the state, but if he'd been capable of kicking his own ass like a soccer ball, he would have. Repeatedly. Riku would probably do it for him at any rate. To top it all off, the entire dueling team had taken a break from practice to watch, including Sora, Cloud, and Seifer, the last of whom Roxas knew was just waiting for him to mess up.

Roxas shook his head. He was being stupid. Auron was testing him, not just his skills, but also how well he performed under pressure. The Twilight High Dueling Team had made it to the state championships for four years in a row, now. Roxas would be under a lot of pressure if he was going to be a member. Besides, he owed it to Cloud for putting in a good word for him to at least put up a decent fight. What would everyone (read: Sora) think of him if he didn't?

Mind set, shoulders squared, Roxas faced his opponent, the practice sword Auron had loaned him held gently but firmly in his hands. Riku held his own sword in the classic kendo stance, straight forward and low to the ground. The stance could be used for either offense or defense but Roxas got the feeling that Riku would go for the offensive. From what he knew of him, it wasn't likely Riku was going to wait for Roxas to make the first move, and gain the upper hand early on. No, Roxas reckoned he'd be on the defensive side in this match which suited him just fine. It gave him a chance to get an idea of Riku's style, maybe even find a weakness to exploit.

He took his place opposite Riku, mirroring his stance. Auron came to stand between them. "Ready?"

Roxas nodded. So did Riku. "Fine, then. Salute your opponent," Auron instructed.

They did. Auron held up two flags, white for Roxas, red for Riku, then brought them swiftly down again.

"Fight!"

Now, dueling was very much like classical fencing, having many of the same moves and techniques. They even wore same white protective clothing, though for training today, Roxas and Riku only wore the face masks. The main differences were in how they fought. Duelers trained in preparation for a theoretical real life encounter with live weapons, though at the high school level, they used heavily padded swords instead of live blades or foils. And whereas fencers competed on a linear piste mat, duelers fought in a ring fifteen feet in diameter with the boundary marked off by a white line. If a dueler stepped out of the circle, it counted as a hit. When a dueler had seven hits against him, he lost a round and the first dueler to win two out of three rounds won the match.

And Riku had already scored his first hits. Auron raised the red flag.

Roxas back pedaled, putting himself out of striking range. As he'd suspected, Riku didn't waste any time. He was also very fast, delivering a blow to Roxas' arm and chest before the blond could properly block him. And hits to the torso counted as two. Roxas silently cursed. The score was three to zip, Riku's lead. Damn it.

Riku advanced slowly, like a predator who knew his prey was cornered with no way out. Unfortunately for him, circles didn't have corners. And Roxas was no one's prey. The moment Riku began transferring his weight, Roxas dashed forward, aiming for the older boy's heart. Riku blocked, but Roxas had been expecting that. He ducked under Riku's right arm, reversing his grip on his sword and scored a solid hit to the boy's exposed side as he passed. Riku retaliated, but because Roxas had kept his arm up, the blow landed on his sword instead of his body. Riku turned and Roxas landed another blow to his left bicep, even as the older boy moved to parry him. Then they were facing each other again, but on opposite sides from where they started.

Impressed murmurs swept through the crowd. In a single move, Roxas had managed to completely even the score. The blond paid them no heed. His message was intended for one person only; Riku.

_Don't underestimate me._

Judging from the way Riku squared his shoulders, he didn't mean to.

The next several minutes were ferocious, the two combatants striking and blocking each other at furious speeds. Riku moved like silver lightning, thrusting and parrying almost faster than the eye could see but after years of sparring with Cloud, Hayner, and Seifer, Roxas was more than capable of meeting him blow for blow. And he did.

After a few minutes, however, Roxas realized that Riku didn't seem to be trying to truly hit him at all. They had each scored an additional hit by that point, yeah, but the majority of Riku's moves were designed to force his opponent backwards. Why? Then Roxas noticed he was only two feet from the edge of the ring. Riku was trying to keep him so involved in their swordplay that he would be too preoccupied to notice as he was slowly nudged then finally driven from the circle. It was something only a novice would fall for.

Roxas was livid at the insult and he was about to administer a thorough beating to the silver haired jerk when something Cloud said to him once came back to him. "_An opponent who resorts to cheap tricks is just trying to make you mad so you lose your focus. Keep your cool and find a way to use the situation to your advantage. Turn the tables on him_."

Unfortunately, his moment of insight made Roxas pause for half a moment and Riku seized his opportunity. He rushed forwards and lunged, aiming straight for the blond's right flank. Caught momentarily unaware, Roxas flinched and almost stepped back but then he remembered Riku's true intentions and moved left.

He wasn't fast enough. Riku hit him squarely on the hip. Roxas managed to take advantage of his vulnerable position and strike Riku's leg before he could right himself but the damage was already done. The score was now six to five, Riku's lead.

'_Shit_.' One more hit, any hit, and Riku would win the round. True, there was a second round after this but he'd have to win the third round after that, too, and he'd have to start from square one all over again. And he dearly wanted to wipe off the smirk he could all but see on Riku's stupid face.

'_Cool it, Rox. You can't beat this guy with a hot head, remember?_'

No, he couldn't. Riku might be revealing himself to be a colossal jerk, but he was still an incredible fighter. Roxas knew he had a chance at winning but only if he kept his wits about him. Time to use his trump card, maybe? He didn't like to, because it was flashy and the guys on the team might think he was just showing off, but if it helped him to win….

No, he'd save it for the next round. Ahead of him, Riku had charged towards him again. His planning time over, Roxas held his sword at the ready. But after a second thought, he brought it down to his right side and gripped it with both hands. At that very moment, Riku swung. So did Roxas, with all of his strength.

Their swords met with enough force to bruise. Roxas felt the shock waves reverberate through his arm and Riku seemed to just barely keep hold of his weapon. Roxas didn't give him time to recover, though. This time, he charged Riku, slashing at him diagonally, forcing the other boy to block at an awkward angle. Their swords collided with tremendous force for the second time, the impact further weakening Riku's grasp on his weapon. He braced his right hand with his left, and for a moment Roxas thought all his effort would be for nothing but just before he swung again, Riku let go with his left hand and met Roxas' parry for the third time with only his right hand.

Big mistake.

The blow knocked Riku's sword clear out of his hand and Roxas rushed in to score a hit to his chest with a solid "thump."

Auron raised the white flag. "Round goes to Roxas."

Said victor fought hard to keep himself from doing a little happy dance and embarrassing himself for life. Instead, he settled for a generous smirk and took off his mask to look around. The entire dueling team was staring at him. Sora and Leon's mouths were hanging open, Riku stood frozen right were Roxas had left him and Seifer's eyebrows were threatening to disappear into his scalp. Cloud was grinning like the cat who'd just eaten the canary and the whipped cream.

Roxas heard Auron walk up behind him. "You'll do," he said and Roxas could tell he was smiling.

-o-o-o-

The moment they recovered from their shock, the entire fighting club converged on the Strife brothers. While giving hearty congratulations for his performance, they demanded to know where the hell Roxas had been hiding and why he hadn't joined the team right from the get-go. Between the two of them, Roxas and Cloud explained that even though they had spent the better part of their summers in Twilight Town with their uncle, they had lived with their parents in Midgar. Cloud had moved in with their uncle three years ago to attend Twilight High, but Roxas decided to follow his brother only at the last minute. By the time all the paperwork had gone through and Roxas was officially transferred, he'd missed tryouts. He was quite disappointed about it actually as he'd been really looking forwards to joining Cloud on the team.

Seemingly satisfied with that, the others released their captives and Roxas was allowed to breathe again. Auron then decided one round was enough and sent the whole lot of them back out to the training field. Amidst doing various endurance and agility drills, Roxas got to know his new teammates. Sora had come up to him almost immediately during the first drill and in between explaining what was going on, told Roxas how cool his match had been and how awesome it was going to be having him around. Apart from the usual butterflies, Roxas was quite relieved Sora was still being friendly. He'd been worried the other boy's demeanor toward him would chance since he beat Riku, Sora's best friend. Riku himself also came over and honestly congratulated him, demonstrating himself to be much more pleasant outside of battle than in. Roxas also met Leon properly for the first time, having only heard about him from Cloud. And despite being paired up for one exercise, Seifer and Roxas just glared at each other, though the latter did so with a smirk, no introductions necessary.

There was also a pair of twins, Zidane and Kuja Tribal (Zidane was actually in his biology class, but Roxas had never spoken to either of them), a redhead named Chappu (his older brother, Wakka, was on the blitzball team, he knew), Seymour Guado (even if he was the son of the mayor, Roxas had no idea why he was so popular, the guy practically screamed "CREEP!"), Luzzu and Gatta (Roxas didn't know anything about them other than they were best friends), Irvine Kinneas (he was going out with Selphie Tilmitt, a girl Roxas knew from his computer class), and last but not least, Gippal, Nooj, and Shuyin, the so-called "Three Kings" of the senior class at Twilight High. They were nice enough, though Shuyin seemed to be a little cold towards Roxas. That was understandable, though, as it was Shuyin's younger brother, Tidus, that Roxas was replacing on the team.

There were also several others Roxas never got a chance to talk to. As to be expected from a championship winning team, training was rigorous and didn't allow much time (or breath) for conversation. It wasn't long before Roxas was completely winded and drenched in sweat from trying to keep up and he was more than a little relieved when he was called over by the assistant manager, Yuffie. She handed him the official rule book of high school dueling and for the remaining twenty minutes of practice they went over it together, making sure Roxas knew all the fine print of the sport before the tournament on Saturday. He had already learned most of it from Cloud, but it was good to review anyway.

At quarter to six, practice was over and Auron dismissed them for the day. Roxas turned to get his stuff when he heard Sora calling him. "Ready to go?" he asked, waving as he pushed his way through the guys still mingling on the field.

"Yup," Roxas answered. He hadn't forgotten his promise to teach Sora, but he had avoided thinking about it during practice lest he collapse from butterflies in his stomach or, even worse, launch into a squealing fit in from of his brother, half of the most popular guys in school and the gorgeous boy he had a crush on. He may have been gay, but Roxas did have his masculine pride.

Sora smiled at the blond's affirmation and Roxas felt himself go weak in the knees again but he stubbornly locked them in place. He was so preoccupied trying not to go to pieces that he almost missed Leon shouting, "Hey, Sora! Get a move on, we gotta go!"

"Roxas and I are gonna hang out for a while," Sora shouted back. "I'll meet you at home later."

Leon shook his head. "We have to be home today, remember?"

"Why?"

"Because Aerith, Aunt Ifalna, and Uncle Gast are coming over for dinner for Aunt Ifalna's birthday and you're not ducking out helping get everything ready like you did last year, you little weasel. Mom's been going on about it all week and she told you again five times this morning. Or did you forget already?"

Judging from the deer-in-the-headlights look on the Sora's face, he had. "Oops," he said, turning to Roxas. "Sorry, mind if I take a rain check on skateboarding?"

Sora clapped a hand to the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly, completely oblivious to how adorable he looked right then. It was a moment before Roxas trusted himself enough to speak. "S-sure, no problem."

Even as he spoke, however, Roxas felt really disappointed. He'd so been looking forwards to spending time alone with Sora. He tried not to show it, though. Sora seemed genuinely sorry at having to cancel their plans and Roxas didn't want to seem sour about it.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

Leon chose that moment to remind his younger brother that they had to leave like right then if they were going to catch the train back to Destiny Islands. Sora let out a small "eep!" snatching up his backpack from where he'd dumped it earlier and ran to catch up with Leon who'd started walking without him, shouting a quick "Bye, guys!" over his shoulder as he passed.

Roxas didn't watch him go. He kicked a loose stone glumly.

"Seeya in History tomorrow, Roxas!"

Roxas looked up just in time to see his crush waving at him. Sora seemed to glow as he ran through a patch of light from the approaching sunset. And once again, Roxas could only marvel at how handsome Sora really was. He made to wave back but Sora had already disappeared after his brother. Roxas could have easily stood there, staring after the brunette and engraving every detail of him in his memory forever but Cloud came and ruffled his hair, snapping the younger blond out of his trance.

"You want a ride home today, squirt?" he asked, grinning as Roxas lightly glared at him, knowing full well he hated Cloud's "little" nicknames for him, but not enough to turn down a ride on his motorcycle.

"Fine," Roxas conceded, leading the way to the school parking lot. As he was putting on Cloud's spare helmet, something Sora said came back to him.

'_He knows we have History together?'_


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. Why, hello again. Here it is, ready just in time for winter break. I got yelled at for not including enough SoraxRoxas interaction last time, so this chapter is pretty much the two of them exclusively. And because a couple of people have been asking me about where to find SoraxRoxas fanart, as a Christmas present, I've made a list of fifteen of my favorite SoraxRoxas pics for all my lovely reviewers. Yup, you read that right. Fifteen hand picked (and carefully chosen, you have no idea how hard it was to narrow it down to just fifteen) wonderful works of art featuring everybody's favorite KH couple. Just review this chapter (and if it's anonymous, be sure to include an email address if you want the list) and I'll send it to you. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, well, just consider this a "thanks for being so cool and reading my fic" gift. And no, I didn't draw any of these. Hell, I write because I c_an't_ draw. BUT! There is a time limit. I'm only doing this until school starts up again, which for me is around the 17th of January (college rocks). So, that being said, enjoy! And Happy Holidays!

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 4

-o-o-o-

The next two weeks were some of the most hectic and trying Roxas could remember. News of his acceptance onto the dueling team had spread like wildfire and as early as the next day, the blond found himself thrust into the limelight of almost instant popularity. People he'd never talked to in his life were coming up to congratulate him. A couple of guys even went so far as to bump him in the shoulder to show their approval. And recounts of his match against Riku were rampant in the hallways during the passing periods and during lunch. Hell, even Leblanc Taylor stopped to congratulate him.

And to the usually quiet and passive Roxas, the constant bombardment on all sides was almost overwhelming. And with all the attention he was getting, Roxas was actually having difficulty getting to class on time. Barret let it slide, Ursula couldn't have cared less, but Jafar had given him a lecture about how just because he was now on "that primitive sports team" it didn't give him the right to be late for class. Roxas actually wouldn't have cared (he had never really like the snake, anyway) if Jafar hadn't scolded him in front of the entire class. That was just humiliating. And because he sat in the front row, Roxas had to endure His Scaly-ness glaring at him every five minutes, too. You'd think being the top student in the class would make a teacher more inclined to like you more, but apparently not.

The girls were the worst, though. Olette said some of them were actually thinking about starting a fan club dedicated to him, much to the blond's horror. He knew girls found him cute, but it always made Roxas uncomfortable whenever they tried to hit on him. He just never knew what to do. He was gay, for heaven's sake, he didn't like girls, let alone flirt with them. Fortunately, most of them took his blushing and discomfort to mean he was just shy and usually let him be before long. And though he hadn't had any stalkers - yet - Roxas feared the day a love note turned up inside his locker probably wouldn't be long in coming.

The only consolation (apart from Hayner, Pence, and Olette managing to somehow slip ink in Jafar's tea, which dyed his gums black for like a week) was Sora. Between dueling practice and skateboarding lessons, they were spending a lot of time together. On the one hand, it was great. Spending so much time with Sora, Roxas really got to know him. He was even more perfect than the blond could have ever hoped. Sora was so kind and wonderful and he had more energy than the energizer bunny.

But Sora was like that to everybody. Roxas never really knew if he was special at all to Sora. And that lack of knowledge hurt.

The flirting hurt even more.

Sora was very popular. He couldn't walk three feet without somebody hailing him from down the hall. Girls flocked to him even worse that they did to Roxas, some who even had boyfriends, and Sora flirted right back. It was mostly harmless and nothing ever really became of it, as far as he could tell.

But he still had a hard time hiding how much is bothered him. One time it had happened right as they were walking out of History and Roxas was so upset he'd turned on his heel and left (discreetly, though, so as to not draw attention). He'd spent lunch up in the library, pretending to study. Olette came and found him sometime later and they spent the rest of the period with her consoling him.

Roxas knew he was being unreasonable. Other than being friendly, Sora had done nothing to suggest he returned the other boy's feelings, or even knew of them. It had gotten to the point where Roxas could safely say Sora honestly thought him a friend, but that was it. Roxas had no grounds to object to how Sora chose to interact with other people.

But he couldn't deny that he was jealous. Those she-wolfs could not only openly act on their affections, but also stood a chance at having them returned. Roxas didn't have either of those, and he wasn't okay with it.

He'd gone from crushing to full blown smitten. He'd even started having dreams about Sora, and Roxas always woke up just as they were about to get to the good part, which left him feeling suspiciously warm and very frustrated.

Roxas admitted he wanted Sora badly, would love more than anything to snog the boy breathless in front of every last girl who'd ever flirted with him with a resounding, "MINE!! HANDS OFF!!" If only...

Just casual friendship wasn't enough. Roxas wanted to be special to the other boy.

But it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon. It was almost unbearable at times, having Sora be so close and yet still so far. And as before, Roxas was stumped as to what to do.

In the end, he decided he would have to just bite the bullet and be content with just enjoying Sora's company as often as he could. It had only been two weeks after all.

Roxas mulled all this over as he waited for the bell to ring. For some reason, English was jut not holding his attention today. Maybe because it was Friday and there was only about three minutes and fifteen seconds until he was free for the weekend. Three minutes and thirteen seconds... three minutes and nine... three minutes and four... three minutes...

His countdown was interrupted by the end of the day announcements over the P.A. system.

"_Good Friday afternoon, everybody_!" the cheerful voice of Mrs. Ramirez said. She was a secretary in the front office and she was always very nice. Roxas liked her. "_Just a couple of announcements before you go flying out the door on us. One, it is pouring rain outside, kiddoes, so the school has arranged for an extra bus to take Destiny Island students to the train station. Everybody else, I hope you brought an umbrella and maybe a boat_."

Roxas snickered. Cloud always looked like a drowned rat every time he had to ride his bike home through the rain.

"_Secondly to all our duelers, Coach Auron has canceled practice for today, so just get a good night's sleep for the tournament tomorrow and don't forget, the bus leaves at eight. Good luck boys, we're rootin' for ya_!"

Hearty cheers sounded throughout the school. A couple of people even thumped Roxas on the back.

"_Alright, that's it for this week, kiddies. On your mark_, get set..."

Everyone who hadn't already done so scrambled to get their backpacks together.

"..._And go_!"

The bell rang, and chaos was unleashed upon the hallways. Most students practically sprinted to their lockers, eager to get their stuff so they could be first to catch the buses home. Others mingled, either because they had or had friends who had cars and could afford to let the masses go ahead of them, the lucky bastards.

Roxas waited until the flood had died down before making his way to his own locker, dumping all unnecessary books into it unceremoniously and taking out the ones he would actually need before kicking the door shut and relocking it.

He jumped a little as somebody poked him in the back. "Gah!! _Don't do that_!"

Sora just laughed and Roxas knew his face had gone red with embarrassment. Or at least slightly pink. "Not funny," he scolded, pretending to be angry. Over the past two weeks, he'd grown a considerable resistance to Sora's charms, on the outside at least. Inwardly, the blond was as smitten as ever, but at least he'd gotten to the point where he felt he could carry on a proper conversation with Sora and even touch him without feeling like melting into a Roxas-sized puddle of mush onto the floor.

"Sorry," Sora said, looking anything but. "So, what'cha gonna do now that practice is canceled?"

The blonde shrugged.

"You wanna hang out?"

Roxas blinked. "Pardon?" he asked, certain he had misheard.

Sora pointed out the window over his shoulder, where the rain was still coming down in sheets. "Well, I don't think skateboarding is an option today," he said, "and I don't really feel like going home just yet, so... I dunno, I thought we could hang out for a while."

"S-sure!" Roxas said, then caught himself. "I mean, if you really want to, why not?"

The other boy smiled. "Awesome! I just gotta get some stuff from my locker before we go, okay?"

"Sure, I'm gonna run to the bathroom. Meet'cha down in the cafeteria."

They parted ways. Roxas was grateful for the time to recollect his thoughts. He hadn't meant to agree to Sora's proposal so... enthusiastically. Hopefully Sora wouldn't think anything of it, if he'd even noticed. Still, Roxas would have to be more careful. The last thing he wanted right now was for Sora to find out about and/or getting scared away by the blond's infatuation. Sora was a genuinely great person and Roxas wouldn't sacrifice their fledgling friendship for anything.

He steeled his nerve and his mask as he waited for Sora amongst the lunch tables. His mask... He hadn't needed to use one since before he came to Twilight High and he wasn't quite sure he was comfortable doing so again quite so soon. But even when he did, Sora brought out the real him anyway by the sheer force of his personality alone. The other boy just disarmed him so easily. Roxas wondered if that was a good thing or a bad one.

He looked up at the sound of footsteps. It was Sora. Roxas waved to him. "Got everything you need?"

"Yup!" Sora hoisted his book bag further up his back.

"Come on, then. If I'm going to have a bottomless pit over as company, I'm gonna have to stock up on supplies before we go home." Roxas poked the other boy in the stomach for emphasis.

"Hey!" Sora pouted/glared at him, but they both knew it was true. The brunette was a human garbage disposal.

Roxas just smiled.

-o-o-o-

They ended up going to Meijer's. Not exactly the most ideal place to buy groceries but it served its purpose. That and any other place they might have gone to was too out of the way in the rain.

"I think that should do it," Roxas said, looking over the items in his basket. He didn't have to get too much, just enough to restock the cupboards. Sora was getting most of his own junk food, anyway.

Speaking of which, Roxas looked around, wondering where said brunette had wandered off to. "Sora?" he called.

"Over here!"

He found him three isles over, trying on sunglasses. "What'cha doing?"

"I sat on my last pair like a week ago, so I thought I'd get some new ones."

Roxas laughed. "Nice."

"So, what do you think?" Sora asked as he turned around, sporting perfectly round and very dark sunglasses.

Roxas made a face at him. "You look like Harry Potter on his way to the beach." '_And I can't see your eyes_...'

Sora "harrumpthed" at him, putting the lenses back on their stand. "You pick out a pair, then."

"Alright." Biting his lip thoughtfully, Roxas considered each and every pair, trying to imagine them on Sora's face. Finally, he selected a pair with a continuous lens that was almost clear except for a faint tint of light golden brown at the top.

Sora quirked an eye brow as he put them on, impressed. "Not bad," he said, "not bad at all."

"You like them?" Roxas asked, trying to not seem too pleased with Sora's reaction. The other boy nodded, examining his reflection. "You got good taste, Roxas." The blond had to bite his tongue to keep from blushing at the complement. Instead, he browsed the racks for a pair for himself. He picked up a pair with blue lenses and put them on, frowning almost immediately upon seeing himself in the mirror. They made him look like he had bug eyes.

"Try these."

Sora held up a pair of charcoal gray lenses, almost elegant in a way with thin, sleek frames but not feminine. They were very stylish. And when Roxas put them on, they looked like they had been custom made for his face.

"Now, those look awesome," Sora told him, looking at the boy's reflection over his shoulder.

"Yeah, but they make me look like I'm like twenty-five or something." Roxas did like them, a lot in fact, but he felt he should say something negative about them, not wanting to seem like he was trying to be older than he really was.

Sora shook his head. "They're perfect for you, you should get 'em."

"Maybe." Taking the glasses off, Roxas glanced at the price tag - and winced.

Sora frowned, too. "Well that won't do... Say, when's your birthday, Roxas?"

"October 26th," Roxas told him.

"Tell you what then," the brunette plucked the lenses out of the other boy's hands, I'll get these for your birthday, and you get these for me."

Sora took off the sunglasses he was wearing and handed them to Roxas. "Deal?"

The shades were still warm from having been in contact with Sora's skin. "Oh? And when is your birthday, Sora?" Roxas asked. He wasn't sure if he was comfortable with Sora spending quite so much on him. Those sunglasses weren't cheap.

"August 15th." Sora grinned at him, but softly as he had picked up on the blond's thinking.

"Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly when Roxas still looked uncertain. "I like doing stuff like this for my friends. Those look good on you. You should have them."

Sora picked up the basket, indicating he wouldn't take no for an answer, starting towards the checkout counter. "Besides," he said over his shoulder, "I need to spend more of my money on other people anyway."

Roxas smiled after him, glancing down at the lenses he still held in his hand.

"Thanks, Sora," he said quietly.

-o-o-o-

Cursing the weather and unreliable umbrellas, Roxas threw open the door to his house, he and Sora rushing in before the rain could follow. Mrs. Ramirez hadn't been kidding when she said she hoped they'd brought their boats. The two of them couldn't have been more wet if they'd jumped into a swimming pool.

"I'm home!" Roxas called out as he took off his sopping jacket and shoes. It was too early in the afternoon for anybody to be home, but it was a habit too deeply ingrained to forgo, even if there was no one present to hear it. He and Sora dumped the groceries in the kitchen. They'd double bagged them at the store so at least the food had been spared from the rain, even as the two boys were dripping puddles everywhere they stepped.

Roxas eyed the wet floor. It would need a good mopping before the day was over. Come to think of it, he and Sora should probably change into drier clothes, too. The entire school would have their heads if the dueling team lost in the tournament tomorrow because two of their top members were sick in bed with colds from having been out in the rain. Not to mention Uncle Cid would skin him alive if anything got ruined because they sat on it in wet clothes.

Leaving Sora dripping in the kitchen, Roxas ran upstairs to grab some towels from the bathroom closet, one of which he chucked down the stairs. He then retreated to his room where he proceeded to have a mild panic attack about what to wear - and what to lend to Sora. He wanted to look good, of course, but then, they were just hanging out , so it wouldn't do to be overdressed, either.

The choice of what to lend Sora was even trickier. Anything the brunette wore Roxas knew he would covet forever so it had to be something he'd be okay with never washing again. After nearly five minutes of deliberating, though, Roxas finally decided on a black turtleneck and tan pants for himself and a Red Hot Chili Peppers T-shirt with jeans for Sora. Cool looking but not overblown and definitely not screaming "GAY AND CRUSHING ON YOU!!" Perfect.

He found Sora on his cell phone when he reentered the kitchen. The other boy had toweled his hair, returning the brown locks to their usual spikiness. He seemed upset with something, though. Listening quietly as he set his towel and wet clothes by the door to the basement, Roxas deduced that Sora was getting chewed out by his mother for not informing her of his whereabouts when it looked like God was trying to cover the Earth in a second flood.

"I'm fine, Mom. I-" Sora looked caught between sheepish and exasperated. Those four words were the most he'd gotten out in one go in the entire conversation. Then he frowned suddenly. "Say what?... Seriously?... Hmm... alright, alright, I'll ask him."

"What's up?" Roxas asked as Sora covered the mouthpiece with his hand.

"The trains are out. Trees are down all over the place and some parts of the track are completely underwater. The roads aren't in much better shape, either. Mom wants to know if it would be okay for me to spend the night."

Roxas stared. Sora? At his house? For the night? Where did he sign up?

Bullying his face into keeping straight, Roxas reigned in his excitement and told him simply, "That'd be fine."

"You're sure? Your family won't mind?"

"Nah. Cloud and my uncle won't care as we don't mess with their stuff and my aunt loves strangers to dote on. Believe me, it's no problem."

The blond's insides went for a loop at the smile Sora gave him. "Thanks," he said before relaying Roxas' affirmation to his mother, along with the house number and all that.

"Here," Roxas handed Sora the extra clothes after he'd hung up, which he took gratefully. Sora's own clothing was just as soaked from the storm as Roxas' were.

Roxas' own cell phone went off right as Sora ducked into the bathroom to change. It was Cloud.

"Hey, bro," Roxas said, cradling the phone on his shoulder as he began putting away the groceries.

"_Hey. Where were you? I've been trying to call for like half an hour!_"

'_Looks like Sora's not the only one getting a lecture today_,' the younger Strife thought. He explained about Sora and shopping, though he left out the bit about the sunglasses.

"_So he's staying the night, then?_"

"Yeah."

"_Alright, well, I'm stuck over at Vincent's place and Aunt Shera got stuck with double shifts tonight at the hospital. She tried to call you but you didn't pick up._"

"Where's Uncle Cid?"

"_It's Friday. Poker Night._"

Roxas mentally slapped himself. Every Friday night, their uncle would get together with some of his buddies for poker, and nothing from hell to high water could deter him.

"Oh, yeah."

"_Right. I should be home by like eleven thirty or so. Be good till then, okay? Aunt Shera left some lasagna in the fridge. Oh, and _get to bed on time_! If you two 're out of it tomorrow because you were up all night, Couch's gonna be pissed._"

"Alright, alright, I gotcha."

"_Right. Later, Rox._"

They hung up, and Roxas resumed putting stuff away. It was only when Sora had reemerged from the bathroom that the full implications of his conversation with Cloud dawned on him.

For the next several hours, he and Sora were going to be completely alone.

-o-o-o-

A.N. I had originally planned to have this chapter be of the entire night, but I couldn't finish the rest of it in time because I wanted to have this to you guys by Christmas Eve. Oh well, hope you like it anyway. Thanks for reading, don't forget to review, and Happy Holidays!


	5. Chapter 5

A.N. I meant to have this out to you guys by Valentine's Day, but real life and midterms got in the way. I really think you guys will like this chapter. It's the first one I can honestly say I'm happy with. Enjoy!

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 5

-o-o-o-

It was several minutes after he got off the phone with Cloud before Roxas could think properly again and assess the situation ahead of him. Being alone with Sora wasn't so much of an issue, after all. They were more or less alone every other day after practice when Roxas taught his crush skateboarding tricks. But that was at the Sandlot, outside where other people could potentially be present, and often were. Now, they were going to be isolated in his _house_, with few or no distractions for an extended period of time. It was the kind of situation that gave Roxas the feeling that if he could survive it, he could survive anything.

Just then, Sora wandered back into the kitchen again, looking around curiously. Roxas bit his lip inwardly. Well, if you can't avoid something, might as well just right in. '_Time to test your backbone, Strife_.'

The first order of business, Roxas decided, was to get Sora oriented and decided to give his crush a tour of the house.

The Highwind/Strife residence was comprised of three levels; ground floor, second floor, and the basement. The first floor was pretty basic. The front entryway connected to the kitchen by a long hallway, which connected to the dinning room by an entryway in the side wall of the kitchen, which connected to the living room by another entryway. The living room in turn, connected to the entranceway, completing the circuit. The stairs were just off the entranceway while the bathroom Sora had changed in opened from the hall. The second floor was mostly bedrooms, Uncle Cid and Aunt Shera's room on one side of the hall with Cloud and Roxas' rooms on the other, with a second bathroom on the third side.

It was in his room that Sora would be sleeping tonight. The inflatable mattress was stored in his closet, and there was no other open sleeping space in the house. Roxas pulled it down from the shelf and set it to inflate.

All that was down in the basement was the laundry room and Uncle Cid's workshop. When he was little, a portion of the basement had been a lounging area complete with couches, a coffee table, and a television but that changed when Uncle Cid's previous workshop in the garage had expanded to such an extent that Aunt Shera couldn't even fit her car in there. The basement had been Uncle Cid's lurking place ever since. The only reason Roxas brought Sora down there at all was because he did a load of their wet laundry and the brunette insisted on carrying his own clothing down instead of making Roxas carry it all. Roxas took the opportunity to warn Sora that if he so much as _breathed_ on anything in the workshop, Cid would turn him into R.O.A.D.K.I.L.L. of the first degree.

It was as they were reentering the living room that Sora spotted a black, cube shaped object lying on the floor in front of the television. "Hey, you have a Gamecube?"

"Technically it's Cloud's, but yeah," Roxas said, smiling as his crush practically bounced over to the system.

"Really? I never figured him to be the type."

"He's not. Zack gave it to him last Christmas in a bid to get him to 'lighten the hell up.'"

Sora laughed, plopping himself down on the carpet in front of the Gamecube before immediately challenging his host to a Super Smash Brothers tournament, to which the blond reluctantly agreed. Truth be told, Roxas actually wasn't all that fond of the game, being only mediocre at it. Cloud, Zack, Hayner, and Pence, were all masters, however, and they kicked his ass every time before he had a chance to really have some fun.

He added Sora to the list of masters before they were even halfway through the first round.

"You don't really like this game, do you?" Sora inquired as Pikachu kicked Luigi off screen for the umpteenth time. Roxas set down his controller with a frustrated huff. "I'm just not good at it, you know?"

"Do you want to play something else, then?" Sora asked, putting down his controller as well and turning off the system. The blond grinned, and fished out Mario Kart from the stack besides the TV.

-o- Two Hours Later -o-

"Oh no, you don't!"

"Oh yes, I do! C'mon mushroom! Wait- ack!"

"Ha ha! You fell right into my trap! Mwa ha ha ha ha!"

"Can it, blondie!"

Roxas bit his lip in concentration as he and Sora raced toward the finish line. They'd been playing for a while now and were neck 'n neck in the overall score. They were both getting hungry (the snacks Sora had bought earlier had long since been consumed), so by mutual consent, this was to be the last race. Sora launched a red shell at the computer player ahead of him, clearing the way to the bridge in DK's Mountain, Roxas hot on his heels. '_Just a little further….'_

As fate would have it, neither of them won because just then, another computer player with a star came up behind them out of nowhere, knocking both of them off the bridge into the abyss and out of the running for first. By the time Lakitu had lifted them back up onto the track, every computer player had passed them up. Sora seethed at the indignity, immediately swearing vengeance against the game. Leaving the brunette behind in favor of his stomach, Roxas returned to the kitchen to get dinner started.

Upon opening the fridge, however, he discovered it was missing a certain lasagna.

Roxas frowned, searching in vain for the promised pasta. "Ten bucks says Uncle Cid stole it for lunch," he muttered. So now what were they going to do for dinner? They didn't have any good instant stuff, he didn't really feel like soup and he knew they were out of anything frozen, so now what? Well, Roxas supposed he could always make something…. He paused, a sudden idea coming to him. Sora was well known for this love of food and the quickest way to a man's heart _was_ through his stomach ….

He dug around the fridge again, checking what he had to work with.

-o-o-o-

His revenge complete, Sora decided to go see what Roxas was up to in the kitchen.

…Only to find the place in a state of mild culinary chaos. Vegetables were scattered across the countertop along with an assortment of spices, a pot was threatening to boil over on the stove, and Roxas himself was buried in one of the lower cabinets.

"You know, a pizza or something would have been fine, Roxas," Sora said.

"I know," the blond replied, his voice muffled slightly as he dug around in the cupboard. Finding the pan he was looking for, Roxas set it on the stove and lit the burner. "There was nothing else in the fridge, though, and I'd hate sending someone out on a delivery on a night like this, it's dangerous. Besides, I was in the mood to cook, so why not?"

"What are you making, anyway?" Sora asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table, watching his blond host bustle about.

"Stuffed green peppers," Roxas told him, a hint of pride in his voice. Stuffed peppers were his unofficial specialty and he really hoped his crush would like them.

Sora's face brightened. "Hey, my mom used to make those. Can I help?"

The offer surprised Roxas a bit, but he accepted it. The sooner the prep work was done, the sooner they could eat. "Sure. Want to cut the onions for me?"

Sora leapt up to complete the task, reminding Roxas of a puppy eager to play fetch. They had a lot of fun together, with Sora cutting the onions and the garlic while Roxas washed and prepared the peppers and cooked the ground beef. The heat from the stove was warming them up nicely after being out in the rain. "You know, it's really cool you can do stuff like this," Sora told him after quarter of an hour. "Where'd you learn how to do all this, anyway? I can't cook anything more complicated than instant ramen."

Roxas smiled. "My mom taught me," he explained. "She's a five star chef, so no way in hell was she going to let her sons grow up without knowing how to cook their own meals."

"Really?" Sora asked curiously as he dumped the scallions and garlic into the pan Roxas was using to cook the ground beef. "Dang, Thanksgiving over at your place must be awesome."

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet," Roxas agreed, stirring in the garnishes. Just a few more minutes and the beef should be set. At his direction, Sora rinsed the colander Roxas had used for the peppers earlier before draining the rice in it. Once that was done, Roxas put the rice back into the pot along with the ground beef, leaving Sora to stir them together while he prepared the tomato sauce. Then they just stuffed the peppers, topped them with the sauce, and put them in the oven to bake. "They'll be done in about twenty minutes."

"By the way, I've been wondering," Sora said as he put all the used utensils in the sink, "why do you live here, anyway? With your uncle, I mean, instead of your parents? I know Cloud came for the dueling team…."

"Mom was asked by a good friend of hers from culinary school to help open a restaurant in Bevelle. It's been her dream for a long time, so she went. Dad travels for business a lot, so instead of being all alone in the house half the time, I came here with Cloud," the blond explained, draining the grease from the beef into a can.

"But isn't your dad all alone, now?"

"No. A lot of his business trips are to Bevelle anyway, so he actually spends more time at Mom's apartment there than he does at home. He's thinking of just moving there permanently."

Sora turned to look at him, an odd expression on his face. "Does that mean you're going to move again?"

"No, probably not," Roxas told him, dumping the frying pan into the sink. They both sat down at the table to wait for the peppers to bake. "I came here because I have friends here. I don't know anyone in Bevelle, so long as my aunt and uncle are content to have me here, I will be."

"Don't you miss your parents at all?" Sora inquired, then winced. "Wait, I'm sorry, that was a dumb question. Of course you miss them."

"You know, it sounds horrible, but not really," Roxas reassured him. "Cloud and I always spent our summers here. I told you the first day at practice, remember? I'm used to not seeing my parents for weeks at a time. Besides, Cloud and I go back to Midgar every third weekend to see Dad, so it's not so bad. We would've been gone this weekend, too, but with the tournament tomorrow…"

"I see. It's just, I've only ever lived in Destiny Islands, so..."

"It's tropical paradise. A lot of people would call you nuts for wanting to leave a place like that," Roxas teased him.

"Are you insinuating something?" Sora asked flatly. He was joking of course, but it was funny to see his face like that.

"Oh, no, nothing. Nothing at all," Roxas replied with a smile. They held their expressions like that for a moment longer, each silently daring the other to crack up. The fact that he was already smiling gave Roxas the advantage as Sora started snickering first before they both burst out laughing. It was absolutely stupid, but it was fun just goofing off with Sora anyway.

They quieted down after a while, falling into friendly conversation. Roxas told Sora about spending his summers in Twilight Town with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Sora told Roxas about Destiny Islands (the blond had never been there) and his childhood adventures with Riku, Kairi, and Namine. Roxas particularly enjoyed the story about the game of hide and seek that ended with Riku being stuck in the Leonharts' dryer for over three hours. Eventually, though, the topic shifted from their friends and homes to the tournament tomorrow and school. More specifically, how each of them did on the most recent math test, which Sora had found to be insanely difficult.

"Man, I'll be lucky to pull off a C," Sora lamented.

"Hey, I'm sure you did fine," Roxas tried to comfort. Something in his tone made Sora look at him with suspicious eyes. "How do you think you did?"

"Oh, pretty good, I guess," Roxas answered evenly, but Sora could tell he was skirting around the issue.

"You actually enjoy math class, don't you?" the brunette accused.

Just then, the timer went off.

"Oh, hey, would you look at that! Dinner's ready!" Roxas tried to get away, but Sora would not be deterred. "Answer the question, Strife!"

"I don't enjoy all the homework we have…," Roxas whined, but his guilty expression said it all. Sora gaped at him, mock hurt. "You're an egghead, too, aren't you? I swear, you and Kairi both! Freaks."

He said it in such a way that Roxas knew he was joking, but the blond still added, "I can't help it, I'm good with numbers and I know Miss Trepe personally, so…."

"So you have to do good in that class or else, huh?" Sora finished for him, "I gotcha, I gotcha."

They set the table while they waited for the peppers to cool down enough to eat. "So, how do you know her?" Sora asked, pouring glasses of orange juice for them both.

"Quistis babysat for Cloud and I when we were little," Roxas told him, serving his guest a pepper before doing the same for himself.

"You aren't part of her fan club, are you?" Sora asked, smirking slightly.

"Oh, hell no!" Roxas said, mortified at the mere suggestion. The number of fan boys devoted to the beautiful young mathematics teacher in their school was as staggering was their rabid devotion to her. Seriously, those guys could give a Satanic cult some lessons. Sora laughed, taking a bite. "Hey!! This is pretty good!"

Roxas just smiled. '_Mission accomplished_.'

"So, you skateboard, you're one hell of a dueler, you're a whiz at math, and now, an excellent cook," Sora remarked, taking another bite of his dinner. "That's quite impressive."

"Yeah, I guess," Roxas said, digging in himself, realizing what an unusual set of skills he had. "Pretty weird, huh?"

"Not at all," Sora told him. "Everybody has their hobbies. I collect antique keys."

"Really?" Roxas asked, curious. "How'd that come about?"

"Mmm hmm. When I was little, my grandfather had an old chest of drawers that locked with an old skeleton key and I would sit there and play with it and try to figure out how it worked. I became so obsessed with the key, I remember there was one time, I took it home back to my house without even realizing it. I'd locked all the drawers before I left, too. Grandpa got so mad at me because he couldn't get into any of his stuff." The brunette laughed at the memory. "And I dunno, I've just been collecting them ever since."

Sora began telling Roxas all about his collection, though making sure to continually shower Roxas' cooking with praise until the blond was genuinely but happily embarrassed. Roxas was amazed that Sora could talk that much and still manage to polish off his dinner faster than the blond himself did.

That eventually got them off keys and collections and back onto the topic of culinary skills. Or rather, Sora's lack thereof. Whether it was because of the actual stories themselves or because of the way Sora told them, Roxas was in stitches by the time he'd finished eating.

"Green eggs?" he laughed, incredulous at Sora's nod in the affirmative. "How the heck did you manage to make green eggs? Why?"

"Hey, I was only seven!" Sora rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'd just read the book by Dr. Seuss and I wanted to try some for myself so…."

Roxas tried to hold back his giggles, he really did, but the idea of a seven year-old Sora running around with a frying pan and an apron was just too adorable.

"I'm serious," Sora whined, pouting at him. Oh, now that just wasn't fair.

"I believe you. I put M&M's in the coffee grinder once," Roxas offered in appeasement. He was still trying to decide which was cuter, Sora's pout or his smile.

"Really?"

"Yep. I wanted some hot chocolate but we were out of cocoa mix, so I figured I'd just grind up some M&M's and voi la."

"I can tell by your face you didn't like it," Sora remarked, smiling.

'_Definitely the latter_.' "Nope. The grinder hadn't been cleaned since my dad had used it that morning. My parents enjoyed the free mocha, but it was a while before I could drink hot chocolate again." Roxas pulled a face as Sora laughed sympathetically.

"Seriously though, thanks Roxas. That was good," the brunette said as the other boy picked up their now empty plates and carried them over to the sink. "I should've warned you, though. You make food for me and I'll love you for life."

_CRASH!!_

For a split second, Roxas seriously thought he was having a heart attack. His grip went slack and the plates slipped out of his hands, crashing onto the floor. By some miracle, the plates didn't shatter, but the bits of food and sauce got splattered everywhere. "Aw, jeez…"

"Dude, you okay?" Sora asked, looking concerned as he stood up to help.

"Yea- yeah, I'm fine. They just slipped out of my hands," Roxas tried to reassure him. He sure as hell didn't sound fine, but Sora picked up the hint that he did NOT want to talk about it, and wisely chose to keep his mouth shut. He tried to grab a sponge and help clean up, but Roxas shooed him away. "It was my fault, I'll clean it up. You go watch TV."

Sora hesitated for a minute, but shrugged. "If you're sure…."

The moment he heard the TV turn on in the living room, Roxas picked up one of the plates and smacked himself upside the forehead with it. '_Stupid, stupid!!_ …_Ow_…' He knew Sora wouldn't hold his klutz attack against him, but he still felt like a fool, and he continued berating himself as he loaded the dishwasher and mopped up the mess of the floor. Still, maybe a bribe was in order….

-o-o-o-

Roxas entered the living room to find Sora flipping through channels with an extremely bored look on his face. "For a Friday night, there is absolutely nothing on," the boy explained.

"Movie, then?" Roxas suggested, sitting down next to him on the couch. Sora shrugged. "Why not?"

Roxas handed him a bowl of ice cream. "Here."

"Vanilla?" Sora asked, taking it from him.

"It was all we have."

The boy sampled a bit. "'S good," he said, smiling, and Roxas knew the incident in the kitchen was already forgotten. They picked their way through the movie collection, finally deciding on Shrek. It was lighthearted and funny, exactly what both of them wanted right now.

About the time Shrek found his house invaded by the seven dwarves, the three blind mice, and the Big Bad Wolf, Roxas dared a glance at his companion. The boy was watching the screen with a smile on his handsome face, laughing a bit when one of the mice mistook Shrek's ear for a piece of cheese. He could hear the rain still falling outside, reminding Roxas that they were still very much alone in the house. He had a very strong desire to crawl over into the other boy's arms and just cuddle with him just then, but he beat it back with a stick. Sora not making a big deal out of him spazzing out in the kitchen was pushing it enough as it was. Still, to have those warm arms around him….

Unable to help himself, Roxas shivered a little.

Sora noticed. "Cold?" he asked.

Roxas shrugged. "A little," he replied honestly, "I'm always cold, though."

"I'm not surprised," Sora said, poking him in the side again. "You've so little meat on you. Here."

Setting down his ice cream, Sora took the throw blanket he'd been using as a pillow and draped it over the blond's legs. Roxas smiled his thanks, genuinely happy at that small act of care. Sora smiled back and they returned to watching the movie just as Shrek and Donkey crashed Lord Farquaad's tournament.

-o-o-o-

At quarter after ten, the movie was over, and both Sora and Roxas agreed it was time to hit the hay for the night. They had to be up at half past six the next morning, after all. Sora brushed his teeth while Roxas made up the air mattress for him. Upon flopping down on it, the brunette declared it almost as comfy as his bed back home. Roxas laughed at him as he grabbed a fresh towel out of the closet then headed into the bathroom.

"Taking a shower?" Sora asked, settling down into blankets.

"Yeah. G'night!" Roxas called, turning the faucet on, though he waited until he heard Sora returning his good night before closing the door. Tossing his clothes into the laundry basket, Roxas stepped into the shower, moaning a little as the warm water soaked his slender frame. Adjusting the showerhead down a little, the blond turned around and sat, the water caressing his back in a gentle massage. There was nothing more relaxing than a hot shower after a long day.

Sitting there under the warm spray, Roxas felt himself unwind, letting his thoughts wander. Quite naturally, they drifted towards the brown haired boy sleeping in the next room over and what had transpired between them earlier. All in all, Roxas felt that it had been a good day.

But of all the things he could have said after dinner.

"_I'll love you for life_…."

The words and the sound of Sora's voice saying them were still ringing in his ears. Roxas just hoped Sora wouldn't put two and two together and figure out just _why_ he'd dropped the dishes.

The water getting noticeably cooler snapped him out of his musing. He'd spent too long daydreaming again. Roxas cursed, washing up hurriedly, because when the hot water ran out in this house, the shower got cold _fast_.

He rinsed out the last of the shampoo just as the water turned freezing. Stupid old pipes.

He toweled off in record time, throwing on the pajamas he'd brought in with him. It didn't get rid of the cold completely, but it helped. Still, Roxas was shivering slightly as he tiptoed back to his room, wanting nothing more than to crawl under his covers and sleep.

Upon actually entering his room, however, he stopped at the sight of Sora slumbering peacefully on the air mattress. Roxas crept over to his side. "Sora?" he called.

No response, not even so much as a twitch. Sora was, for all intent and purposes, dead to the world, oblivious to everything but his dreams. Roxas just crouched there, watching him. After a long moment, it occurred to him that he'd never had the chance to study his crush's face like this before. At least, not this close. Straight nose, slender eyebrows, high cheek bones, gorgeous eyes, smooth, elegant chin. Plump, full lips.

His eyes strayed over that last feature the most. He couldn't help it, he wanted to taste them.

Would it really be so bad to steal a kiss from him? Throwing caution to the wind, he decided to go for it.

Gulping, he leaned in (dear God, he could feel Sora's breath on his face), but not one inch from Sora's lips, he hesitated.

He didn't want to do this, Roxas realized suddenly. He couldn't bring himself to close the gap. But why not? He'd never have a chance like this again, he was sure of it. They were completely alone and Sora was dead asleep, he'd never know-

But that was it. Sora would never know. Sitting there, leaning over the boy he'd been crushing on for weeks, Roxas realized that if he ever did kiss Sora, he wanted the other boy to be aware of it. His lips screamed at the unfairness of having been denied a taste of Sora, but his heart was resolved. Roxas smiled, content with his decision.

Straightening, he couldn't help touching Sora a little, however, and stroked one of the chestnut spikes lying on the pillow to see if it was really as soft as it looked.

It was.

Smiling, he stood, walking over to his bed, sliding underneath the covers. He drank in the sight of Sora's peaceful form for a moment longer.

"Good night, Sora," he whispered, turning off the light.

-o-o-o-

A.N. I can hear the cries of outrage already, ku ku ku. Believe it or not, I didn't have Roxas not kiss Sora just to be mean. I wanted to show that, while stealing a kiss isn't necessarily bad, it wouldn't really mean anything, because Roxas didn't confess his feelings to Sora and Sora wouldn't even remember it, so in the end, it wouldn't have really done anything for their relationship. And Roxas didn't want that.

Anyway, I have to say that overall, I'm pretty pleased with this chapter. I managed to work in everything I wanted to, I wrote it in almost the timeframe I wanted to (I meant to have this to you guys by Valentine's Day, but other things came up), and while I'm always inclined to keep nitpicking over the tiniest details until the end of the universe, I've finally got it to the point where I'm happy enough with it to post it.

That said, I need to have a little word with you people….

**IMPORTANTNOTICE!!IMPORTANTNOTICE!!****IMPORTANTNOTICE!!****IMPORTANTNOTICE !!IMPORTANTNOTICE !!**

While I was writing this, I also busy fleshing out the plot and future of _My Kind of Guy _and I came to an important decision. _My Kind of Guy _is getting a sequel.

Yup, you read that right.

Now, make no mistake. _My Kind of Guy_ is far from over. And the plot and setting of the sequel isn't all that new, development wise. I'd always planned to have the events it will contain as a part of this story, but there is a two month gap in between certain key events. I've decided that, rather than try to write two months worth of story during which nothing of consequence happens, I'll just cut in two.

But I'm having a bit of a dilemma; the name.

The actual story name, _My Kind of Guy_, is much better suited to the plot and theme of the _sequel_ that it is to the current _My Kind of Guy_. That said, I'm seriously considering changing the name of _this_ story now and saving _My Kind of Guy _for the sequel. If I do change it, I've decided on the name _I Fell in Love with a Boy_. I wasn't sure about that name at first, because I know there's some other story with the same name out there and I like to be original, but it's grown on me. Those of you who are diligent about reading my author's notes will know that I've been considering changing the name right from the beginning, but deciding to make a sequel has given me the incentive to go ahead with it.

But I know this isn't just my story anymore. There are other people now who love it just as much as I do, and it would be cruel to make such a drastic change without consulting them. So I'm placing a decision in the hands of you, my readers. Here are your options:

1) I change the name of this story to _I Fell in Love with a Boy_ and make the sequel _My Kind of Guy_.

2) This story stays _My Kind of Guy_ and the sequel is _I Fell in Love with a Boy_.

3) You tell me. Seriously, if there's some other name you think would be more appropriate for this story, tell me and I'll consider it. Read each other's reviews and if you see a suggestion someone else posted that you like, tell me. Whichever name/option gets the most votes goes.

Oh, don't forget: just because I want your feedback on the whole renaming thing, don't forget to actually review the chapter, okay? Chao!


	6. Chapter 6

A.N. _I'm baaack!!_ Miss me much? First and foremost, I wanted to thank everybody for all the love and support they've given me over the past two months since I went on unofficial hiatus. I still have some things that I need to get resolved, but at least school's out for the summer so I can breathe again.

As you can see, I've decided _not_ to change the title of this fic. The vote came out more or less exactly even, so after careful deliberation, (and not knowing what else to do) I flipped a coin. It landed on tails, so I went with option 2. I couldn't decide, you people couldn't decide (not as a group, anyway), so I left it up to fate. So there ya have it.

So yeah, I'm really sorry this took so long. As Dusty's Chocobo pointed out, I probably should have told you guys to PM me in the preview so you could review when the real chapter six got posted, so sorry about that. Heh heh heh…. Anyway, You may notice that I kind of breeze through a lot of Roxas and company's fights. The stupid fight scenes were giving me more trouble than they're worth, so in the end, I just combined a lot of the best bits from all the fights I actually _was_ going to write and just condensed them down into a single match between Roxas and Vaan of FFXII. Hope nobody's too disappointed. Also, little mistakes and accidentally omitted content in previous chapters have annoyed me to the point where I finally went back and edited all five previous chapters of this story. It's nothing major, just a few little things here and there. Knowing me, there's probably _still_ a few errors in there that I didn't notice, but then again I never claimed to be a grammar Nazi. The biggest thing is I forgot to say that Yuffie is the assistant coach of the dueling team. So that's why she's at the tournament and all that, okay?

Meh, enough blabbering. On with the fic!

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 6

-o-o-o-

The next morning, Roxas awoke to the absolutely most adorable sight he'd ever laid eyes on: Sora Leonhart, hair and blankets askew, sprawled haphazardly atop the air mattress, clutching his pillow like it was his favorite teddy bear. Roxas giggled a bit, getting out of bed to get a better look at the slumbering boy. Even mussed by sleep, Sora's brown spikes refused to be held down by gravity. It seemed almost a crime to wake someone that cuddly looking, but they did have to get going soon.

"Wakie wakie, Sora," Roxas said, shaking the brunette gently. Sora groaned and burrowed deeper into his blankets. Roxas tried again. "C'mon, big boy, wake up!"

A lone blue eye peaked out at him from under the covers, sleepily demanding to know why it had been woken.

"Don't give me that look," Roxas chided gently. "You have to get up and you know it."

"_Whyyy_?" The whine was muffled by the blankets and a yawn.

"Because we have a tournament to win today and if you want a shower, you have to take one now before Cloud wakes up and kicks you out of the bathroom," Roxas told him, trying not to smile at the boy's antics.

"Fine." With a heavily displeased groan, Sora threw off the covers, got to his feet, stretched then lumbered his way to the bathroom across the hall.

"Towels are in the closet," Roxas called after him. Shivering a little in the cool morning air, he flipped the covers back into place on his bed, then ran down to the basement to retrieve their uniforms. He placed Sora's outside the bathroom door after returning upstairs. As he dressed, Roxas' thoughts drifted back to the previous night and the almost-kiss.

Something had changed last night. Roxas couldn't quite place what, but it was like, by resolving _not_ to kiss Sora, Roxas' affections for the boy had solidified. The warmth that he felt from Sora's presence was still there, but the heat that usually rushed to his face and clouded his thoughts was gone. He wondered that that meant.

Uncle Cid called up from the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Roxas! Cloud! Asses down here, boys! Breakfast is ready!"

"Coming!" Roxas called back, finishing getting dressed before going downstairs to the kitchen. He was just helping himself to a third waffle when Sora stumbled in, still looking very much asleep. "You're really not a morning person, are you?" Roxas asked as the brunette practically collapsed into a chair opposite him. Sora grunted a negative, folding his arms on the table, putting his head down. Roxas picked up the newspaper from the table and used it to fan the scent of his waffle is Sora's direction.

It worked. The boy sniffed, lifting his head to look around for the source of the delicious smell. His eyes found the plate in front of Roxas, then the newspaper in his hand, and lightly glared. Roxas just giggled at him.

Just then, Uncle Cid walked back in, a steaming mug of fresh coffee in hand, looking cranky as ever. He grunted a morning greeting to his nephew, piled a waffle and some bacon on a plate, and sat down at the table. Only then did he notice there was a third person in the room. "The hell're you?" he asked Sora gruffly.

"Sora Leonhart, sir," the brunette said, offering his hand.

"He's a friend of mine from school, Uncle Cid," Roxas chipped in. "He lives in Destiny Islands. The rain took out the trains last night, so he stayed over here."

Cid gave the newcomer a once over, grunted again, then went back to his breakfast. Sora blinked, confused. Roxas just shrugged. That was Uncle Cid for you.

-o-o-o-

Two hours later found Roxas wide-eyed and slack-jawed as he beheld the ginormous Luca convention center. Cloud had told him the tournament would be large, but damn! Dueling teams from nineteen different schools all across the region had gathered for this one event (the twentieth school, D'jose Academy, had cancelled at the last minute).

Roxas estimated the main competition room to be roughly the size of about three football fields and four stories high. It was divided into four main areas; the competition area, the warm-up area, a lounging area, and what Sora called the rec room, even though it wasn't really a room. Roxas was so busy looking gawking that Cloud had to pull him along by the arm so he wouldn't get separated from the team as Yuffie led them through the sea of tables, chairs, dueling gear, duffle bags, backpacks, and people in the lounge area to their own three designated tables. "Alright, boys! Remember we're in section K2!" Yuffie yelled above the crowd when they finally reached the tables.

Dropping the bad he'd carried from the bus with a sigh of relief (damn, that thing was heavy!), Roxas saw that some teams had brought TVs and video game systems to play during down time. The others followed suit. When everyone and everything was accounted for, Auron called them into a huddle.

"You know why we're here. You know what you have to do," he said, looking each and every one of them in the eye. "This is your story. Make it a good one."

Roxas knew from Cloud that Auron always said something like that before every competition, but he still felt like those words had been meant specifically for him. He smiled.

Game time.

-o-o-o-

There were two levels of competition in high school dueling. Freshmen and sophomores were in the Underclass, while juniors and seniors were in the Upperclass. Only ten duelers from the same school could compete in a class at any one time. Rank within a team was denoted by a dueler's sword number, 1st sword being the best. In McHahon style tournaments like this one, a dueler fought against the dueler of the same rank on the opposing team. Because of the sheer number of matches going on, watching and refereeing them all at the same time would be too difficult, so in a match-up between two schools, it was broken up so the odd numbered ranked duelers fought first, then the even numbered. There was an elaborate points system that determined a team's advancement in the tournament, but in Roxas' opinion, it was far too overly complicated and Yuffie assured him that only referees, couches, tournament officials and the incredibly anal really bothered with it anyway.

Sora was 1st sword for the Twilight Underclass team, followed by Seifer. Leon was 1st sword today, with Cloud as 2nd but as they challenged each other weekly for the position of 1st, that would likely change by the time of the next competition. Riku was 4th sword for the Upperclass team, the same position Roxas held in the Underclass. While good enough to be 2nd sword (he'd beaten Seifer often enough), Roxas just didn't have the same endurance as his teammates and the other duelers in the tournament. Many of the best ones, like Cloud, Leon, and Sora, trained year-round, and even after two weeks of hard conditioning, he just did not have to same stamina, and so he ended up staying at Tidus' old rank.

Roxas won his first match no problem. His opponent, a cocky black haired kid from the host school, Luca, did nothing but smirk/sneer at him when the referee called them to step into the ring to begin the match. Roxas knew all the other schools would know of his joining the team by now. Twilight, Midgar, Central Sunset, and Rabanastre High Schools were among the top competitors, and so were closely scrutinized by the others. Clearly, the Luca guy thought Roxas, who had no previous career in high school dueling, would be a push over. The poor jerk forgot that Roxas wasn't the younger brother of a thrice state champion for nothing and the only reason why his best friend wasn't on the team as well was because Hayner didn't want to be. Roxas won the first round before the other guy could take two dozen steps. He relished in the stunned faces of the other Luca duelers when he won the next round, and therefore the match, even quicker. The best part was, walking off the mat Roxas looked up into the spectators' stands and saw Sora sitting on one of the bleachers, smiling at him.

His next opponent was better, a brown haired boy from the Mi'ihen Military Academy named Clasko. From talking to him later, Roxas found out this was Clasko's first year in dueling and that he was the highest ranked freshman on his team. Roxas liked him, not only because he was nice, but the cadet also put up a good fight. He still won both rounds, but it had been a close call.

His third opponent was Wen Kinoc, some heavy weight from Bevelle, and he was even worse than the guy from Luca.

"So, you're that new kid from Twilight, huh?" He said it conversationally, but Roxas could near the condescending tone in his voice. Jerk.

"Yeah, that's right," Roxas replied, not bothering to get angry. The loser was probably just trying to get him riled up, anyway. Seeing that Roxas wasn't going to take the bait, Wen switched tactics.

"I heard you got in just because your big brother's state champion," he said, smirking a little as he put on his mask.

'_I can kick your sorry ass all on my own just fine, chubby_,' Roxas thought, also putting on his mask but said nothing. Such low blows were considered very unsportsmanlike-like and perpetrators were usually penalized but as Wen had not actually insulted him, he couldn't be disciplined by the referee.

"Keep it clean, boys," was all the ref said before he signaled them to salute each other, they did. The referee blew his whistle.

"Fight!"

Unlike his first opponent, Wen had the skill to back up his arrogance. Roxas won the first round, but Wen won the second. Roxas again won the third round, but it took more out of him, more than he cared to admit.

On the flip side, Sora was completely dominating how own matches, downing his opponents with energy to spare. The Luca, Mi'ihen, and Bevelle duelers fell so swiftly and easily, if Roxas hadn't been crushing on him so badly, he'd have been jealous. As it was, Roxas just enjoyed the opportunity to stare at Sora without anyone getting suspicious.

Fortunately, after that, it was the lunch break. Sora was waiting in the stands for him after the match. Grabbing their water bottles, they and the rest of the team decided to see how the Upperclass was doing. Cloud, Riku, Gippal, Seymour, and Irvine were all dueling opponents from Kilaka. The Underclassmen filed in around Leon and the other Upperclassmen to watch. As Roxas sat down next to Chappu to watch Cloud (Sora had gone to see how Riku was doing), he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, and, turning around, was surprised to see none other than Zack Fair grinning/mock scowling at him.

"Zack!"

"Sure, now he sees me," Zack grumbled, but Roxas could tell the older boy was just picking on him, and sure enough, a moment later the blond found himself in a headlock and on the receiving end of a noogie.

"So hi there, Roxy! Did'ja miss me?" Zack chirped, making sure to rub his knuckles on his captive's head nice and hard.

"_Ack-!_ Hey, leggo! And don't call me that!" Roxas snapped, trying in vain to break Zack's hold on him.

"Zack!"

Both the noogier and the noogiee looked up. Sora was making a beeline straight towards them with a very sweaty Riku in tow. It didn't escape Roxas' notice that Zack managed to wave them over without letting his headlock on him slacken in the slightest. Stupid Zack and his stupid inhuman strength. "Hey, squirts! Long time, no see!"

Sora didn't fail to notice the blond's predicament either. Roxas waved to him half heartedly from under Zack's arm.

Just then, somebody yelled, "_Fair, you snapped my 4__th__ sword's neck, you gotta get me a new one_!!"

It was Yuffie, coming up behind Sora and Riku, carrying a notebook.

"Aw, c'mon, Yuff," Zack pouted, cuddling Roxas to him as if the blond was his favorite puppy. "He knows I was only playing, right, Roxy?"

"Feh!"

Zack, chucked, ruffling his hair messily, which just irritated him even more. Sora looked like he wanted to laugh, but wisely kept quiet when Roxas scowled at him. Crush or not, the blond would not have let him get away with siding with Zack.

Yuffie bashed Zack over the head with her notebook. "We need to get going now, remember?"

"Where?" Zack asked.

Yuffie bashed him over the head again, then showed him what was written on it. Craning his neck, Roxas saw it was a list. On the bus coming here, she had taken down all of their names and what kind of sandwiches they wanted for lunch. "Subway, and don't you dare back out on me know," she said.

Zack looked the list over again, obviously disappointed to have to cease his torment of his best friend's little brother. "Alright, alright, I'm coming."

The second he was released, Roxas punched him. Zack caught his fist and ruffled his hair again. Jerk.

Cloud and the others finished up with their matches soon after Zack and Yuffie left. With them done, the Twilight team had to leave the stands, and so began to head back to the lounge area. Sora and Leon stayed behind as Auron wanted to have a word with them. Unable to wait until Zack and Yuffie got back with lunch, Roxas headed to the concessions stand in the rec room to buy a snack. Once he'd purchased a pretzel, Roxas happily collapsed onto a bench by the wall to eat. By now, the adrenaline from his match against Wen had worn off and he was starting to feel the effects of not being in proper shape for the tournament. He was definitely going to be sore in them morning.

"Hey."

Roxas looked up. It was Kuja Tribal. "Hey", he replied.

"Can I sit down?"

Roxas shrugged. "Sure", he said, scooting over to make room.

Kuja took a seat. "I was watching you against that guy from Bevelle. Pretty impressive."

"Thanks," Roxas said, fidgeting a little. He didn't get why the other boy would suddenly want to talk now, but whatever.

Kuja didn't seem to notice. "So, tell me, how does a complete nobody in the high school dueling scene get to be such a terror in the ring?" he asked, grinning at the blond.

Roxas felt slightly embarrassed by the compliment. "Just training with my brother and Hayner. I've gone up against Seifer a few times, too."

Kuja nodded, still smiling. "Must be pretty sweet to have the three time state champion as a brother and personal trainer."

"He's not my trainer," the blond protested.

The more Kuja talked, the more Roxas realized he wasn't quite sure what to make of him. He seemed nice enough, but…

"Hey!" a cheerful voice called out.

Roxas looked up. "Sora!"

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Sora said, walking over towards the blond, smiling. His face froze for half a second once he saw just whom Roxas was with.

Kuja waved lazily at the newcomer. "Rox and I were just talking about his match against that kid from Bevelle. This little guy's quite the dueler," he remarked, throwing am arm around the blond's shoulder and giving him a congratulatory hug. Roxas couldn't quite suppress a squirm under the weight of the foreign limb.

"It was nothing," he said casually, taking a drink from his water bottle.

He completely missed the cold glare Sora gave Kuja over his head. Kuja gave Sora an easy smile back, settling his arm more comfortably around Roxas's shoulder.

You could have cut the tension between them with a knife.

"Hey, Roxas, can we talk?" Sora asked when the blond had finished his drink. Roxas blinked, puzzled. There was something weird about Sora's tone. "Um, sure."

He stood, freeing himself from Kuja's grasp. "Excuse us."

"No problem," Kuja replied easily, but he was looking at Sora. Roxas opened his mouth to say, "See you later," but Sora seized him by the arm and dragged him away.

_Now_ Roxas was bewildered. "Sora?"

The brunette said nothing, merely continued pulling Roxas along as if he wanted to put as much distance between them and Kuja as possible. Roxas looked back at the boy still sitting on the bench. He was still smiling that same easy smile, but now Roxas noticed there was something… off about it. It made him uneasy.

Sora, too, was distinctly on edge about something. Roxas didn't know what but it didn't take much to figure it had something to do with Kuja and his creepy smile. And sure enough, only after dragging the blond halfway across the building and to the courtyard outside did Sora mutter, "Stay away from him."

"Huh?" Roxas asked, shivering a little. He hadn't realized how cold it had been inside until now.

"Stay away from Kuja," Sora repeated, finally dropping the other boy's arm. When Roxas continued to look puzzled, he added, "Kuja's a rotten egg, Roxas. I can't tell you why without betraying the trust of a friend, but the guy's sick, believe me."

"What'd he do?" Roxas asked, alarmed. Sora was more serious than the blond had ever seen him.

"I can't say, and I'm not one to listen to rumors, but let's just say that he's bad news for good reasons. He's only even still allowed at school because he's smart enough not to get caught." Sora bit his lip. "I don't want to dictate who you hang out with, Roxas, but promise me you'll stay away from him."

Roxas didn't know what to say. He'd gathered Sora didn't like Kuja, a major red flag in and of itself, but this? Still, he'd come to trust Sora a lot over the past few weeks and so he figured that if Sora was warning him against this, it must be for his own good. "Alright, I will."

Sora visibly relaxed upon hearing those words. "Good."

He kicked a pebble on the ground, suddenly avoiding looking Roxas in the eye. "So, uh, how did your third match go? Coach pulled me away to watch this kid Church from B.G. Academy, I didn't get to see your fight."

Happy for the change in topic, Roxas told him all about Wen Kinoc.

Sora nodded thoughtfully. "Don't let him get to you," he said, "he and that guy from Luca were just trying to psych you out. Most of the guys in these tournaments are usually pretty decent. There's always a couple of jerks mixed in, though."

"Yeah, I know, it's just that, except for that Clasko guy from Mi'ihen, I feel like I got all the assholes today." Roxas pulled a face.

Sora laughed sympathetically, and told him about the time he'd had to fight the biggest prick from Narshe. The conversation really started to take off when Sora mentioned the guy's name was Setzer, Roxas realized it was the same Setzer who'd wanted the blond to throw the match for him during the Struggle tournament last summer. Sora had only ever heard about the Struggle from people at school, so Roxas happily told him all about it. They were just discussing the finer points of the time Roxas had completely owned Seifer in a match when something bonked Sora in the back of the head. They looked up to find Zack standing behind them, holding bags upon bags of Subway sandwiches with Yuffie carrying two cartons of water bottles.

"You two aren't going to be lazy bums and make Yuffie and I carry all your lunches in by our selves, now, are you?"

"Yuffie? Hell no. _You?_ Absolutely," Sora said, grinning cheekily, but Roxas moved forward to take some of the bags from Zack's hands. Sora grabbed a carton from Yuffie. They were greeted like conquering heroes by their absolutely ravenous teammates when they made it back to the tables in the lounge area. Roxas tried to help pass out sandwiches and water, but Zack practically shoved Roxas' own lunch on him and shooed the blond away, saying he'd already done his share. Sora, however, he made stay until every last one of their teammates had gotten their food.

Clucking at Sora's protests, Roxas sat down next to his brother. Cloud ruffled the younger blond's hair in greeting. Roxas scowled at him. Why _did_ everybody insist on doing that? Cloud just smirked.

-o-o-o-

The strength he recovered during lunch was quickly drained once the break was over. His fourth opponent, Yenke from Mt. Gagazet, was a giant of a sophomore and tough as nails in the ring. Seriously, if Roxas hadn't known any better, he'd have sworn the guy was a lion or something in another life.

His fifth and final opponent actually succeeded in knocking him to the ground during the first round, so weary was Roxas by that point. The guy managed to get under his guard and strike him in just the right spot on his chest to completely knock the wind out of him, stunning him for a moment. His opponent took advantage of Roxas' incapacity to deliver a swift blow to his back, knocking him to the ground.

The referee blew his whistle. "Round goes to Ratsbane!"

Roxas forced himself into a sitting position from where he fell on the mat, trying to catch his breath. He winced when the spot where he got hit protested at the movement.

"You okay?" the other guy asked. He'd taken off his mask to take a drink of water, revealing pale blond hair and strange gray eyes. "I think I hit you hard than I meant to. Sorry."

Roxas shook his head at the apology. "It's alright."

The other blond offered his hand. "I'm Vaan."

Roxas took it. "Roxas."

Vaan took another sip of his water. "Nice to meet you."

"Same here."

Vaan seemed to mull something in his mind for a moment, then said," You're pretty good."

Roxas sniffed. "I dunno. You seemed to knock me to the ground easily enough."

"You're bone tired, I'll give you that. Everybody is after four rounds of dueling in a single day. But I saw you against that guy from Gagazet. That one move you pulled off was pretty sweet, so I know you're a lot better than what you just gave me," Vaan told him.

"All the talent in the world is worthless if you don't have the strength to back it up," Roxas replied. He didn't understand what Vaan was getting at.

"True, but…. Look, this is the last match. You have the kind of talent that I live to fight. After this, it's over, you're done. I want you to give me your all in thins next round. Will you?" Vaan asked.

Roxas thought it over. His body was not going to be happy with him come tomorrow morning if he did this, but then again, he was going to be sore as hell anyway, so what the hey. Pushing his limits could only help him get better. Besides, as the saying went, no guts, no glory.

"Sure. Might as well end it with a bang, right?" he said to Vaan.

The other blond laughed, happy he'd be getting a decent fight. He offered Roxas a hand up then put his mask back on. Out of the corner of his eye, Roxas saw Cloud, Leon, Riku, Sora, Auron, and a number of others from his team sitting on his bleachers. He looked straight at Auron and clenched his left hand. Auron frowned for a moment, then nodded. Roxas smiled, putting his own mask back on as well.

The five minute intermission over, both boys got into position on the mat, facing each other. The referee came to stand between them. "Ready boys?" he asked.

They nodded. Roxas tightened his grip on his sword.

"Salute," the referee instructed.

They did. Vaan noticed a certain change in the way Roxas had gripped his weapon. "You fight lefty?"

The referee raised two flags above his head, white for Vaan, red for Roxas, then brought them swiftly down again.

"Fight!"

Vaan rushed forward, aiming a blow at Roxas' shoulder. Roxas blocked from above, bringing Vaan's sword down in a clean sweep but Vaan's reach was just long enough that his sword grazed Roxas on the thigh. Roxas seized the opening to score a hit to Vaan's shoulder then arced his sword down to strike his opponent on the wait.

Three to one, Roxas' lead.

Behind his mask, the younger Strife brother smiled. "I fight both."

Right handed duelers generally hated fighting left handed ones. All a lefty's moves and actions where a complete flip from what they were used to and so to fight a lefty could be very disorienting. Roxas, however, was not left handed.

He was ambidextrous. He could fight with both hands, and in high school dueling, it was not illegal to switch hands in the middle of a match.

It was his trump card. To be able to suddenly switch one's fighting style and attack direction and thus wreck hell and havoc upon an opponent's battle rhythm, while considered to be flashy, was an extremely valuable asset. One that he, Cloud, and Auron agreed could come in very handy later in the season, once Roxas had built up his stamina enough to take on a higher rank, so they agreed it should be kept under wraps for as long as possible. Not even Roxas' own teammates had known. Until now.

So when Roxas looked at Auron earlier, he was asking permission to let the proverbial cat out of the bag. And permission had been granted, for there were few duelers good enough to hold his own against an ambidextrous opponent.

It seemed Vaan, however, was one of them.

The Rabanastrian dueler came at his opponent hard with a vertical slice. Roxas parried, deflecting the blow off to the right. Vaan retaliated with a strike to his midsection, but again Roxas blocked, his blade pointed straight down. It allowed Roxas to score a hit on Vaan's right shin, but it left him open for the paler blond to strike him on the shoulder.

Four to three, Roxas' lead.

The younger Strife tossed his sword back into his right hand, trying to catch his opponent with an uppercut. Vaan parried to the left. It was an awkward angle both of them, but Vaan rotated his sword in a circle and pushed, dislodging Roxas and forcing him back a step. In the few seconds his balance was off kilter, Vaan thrust at Roxas' middle, catching the underside of his arm as the other boy leaned away from the attack.

Back on sure footing, Roxas switched his sword back into his left hand. When Vaan thrust at him again, Roxas stepped out of the way completely, and Vaan unintentionally stepped past him, trying and failing to compensate and deflect Roxas' strike to his back.

Then they were facing each other again. Vaan rushed again almost immediately. Roxas blocked, but Vaan had put more force into his strike than he'd counted on, and his sword was forced back toward his shoulder a little too close for comfort. Vaan used his opponent's momentary surprise to slide his sword forward and score a hit on Roxas' left arm then his leg.

Roxas swung hard right at Vaan's upper torso, but the paler blond ducked, the strike missing him completely. The lack of resistance to his swing threw Roxas off balance for the second time, but rather than try to reverse his momentum to strike again, he continued with the motion, transferring his sword back to his right hand and stepping out of striking range while he completed the turn.

Vaan had stepped with him, but he had stepped too close. Without even realizing it, they each slashed hard at the other at the same moment. The back of their fists slammed together as each of their swords smacked into the other's shoulder at the exact same time.

Murmurs swept through the rather sizable crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. No one quite knew what had happened. Was it a tie? Who won? Even the referee had had to call another one over to discuss the fight.

Vaan and Roxas didn't notice. They were too busy trying to catch their breath.

"Now _that_ is what I'm talking about," Vaan said, leaning heavily on his sword. "That's the kind of fight I wanted from you."

"Heh, thanks," Roxas huffed. He felt ready to curl up in a ball somewhere and pass out for the next week. "And what about you? You're way too good to be a lowly 4th sword."

Vaan smiled, motioning the other blond closer. He lifted up his right pant leg, and Roxas saw he was wearing an ankle brace. Roxas winced. "Ouch."

Vaan nodded. "I sprained it pretty bad last spring. I couldn't walk on it for over a month."

Roxas frowned in sympathy. "Damn, man."

"Yeah. I mean, it's healed now, but only just barely, and I lost a lot of my stamina along the way. So they bumped me down to 4th."

"What rank were you before?" Roxas asked, though he had a feeling he already knew.

"First. And not to sound cocky or anything, but the fighting down here is just…"

"It's just not the caliber you're used to," Roxas finished for him.

Vaan shook his head.

Just then, the referee who'd overseen their match approached them again. "The round is officially a draw," he said. "According to the rule book, both combatants have won a round. Ratsbane has two rounds to Strife's one round. Match goes to Ratsbane!"

Cheers rose from the left side of the stands, where many of Vaan's teammates had gathered, happy at his victory. There were a few grumblings among Roxas' supporters that he'd struck Vaan first, but the blond himself felt the ruling was fair. That and he was just _waaay_ too tired to argue the matter or fight in another round.

"Congratulations," he said to the paler blond.

Vaan seemed to share his sentiments. "You, too," he said, still panting a little. "And thanks."

"For what?" Roxas asked.

"For giving me your all," Vaan replied. "You were right before, those other guys aren't of my caliber. But you are. That's why I wanted to fight you so bad. You've got the kind of skill that I'm used to. That was the first really decent fight I've had all season."

No one had ever paid Roxas a compliment like that, and it was a few moments before the blond trusted himself enough to say, "Thanks."

"The pleasure was mine," Vaan told him honestly.

"Tell you what," Roxas said. "It's still two months before the end of the season. I'll work on building my endurance, you concentrate on strengthening that ankle, work our way up to 1st sword, and in the Finals, you and I will duke it to be the champion."

The two blonds smiled at each other, shook hands, and the deal was done.

-o-o-o-

It was complete pandemonium the entire bus ride home. Twilight High had come in 2nd overall in the Underclass division and 1st in the Upperclass.

The entire team was beside themselves with sheer triumphant joy. Chappu, Luzzu, and Gatta had launched into an absolutely horrid rendition of "_We Are the Champions"_, but their singing was drowned out by the traffic, the bus, and the other guys talking, and no one was really listening anyway. Yuffie was suddenly prone to random bouts of rather high-pitched squealing, but fortunately, Leon appointed himself in charge of keeping her "episodes" down as much as possible, much to the appreciation of the others' ears. Even Auron put aside his usual aloof disposition to give his boys a warm and much deserved, "Well done."

So it was with an air of great jubilation and general good cheer that the Twilight High dueling team hunkered down for the hour and a half bus ride back to school, everybody talking to everybody else, swapping stories of their matches with blow-by-blow replays.

Well, almost everybody.

While very exciting, the tournament had also been rather long and very draining. It was after dark by the time it ended and it was finally time to go home. After the tournament, they had said goodbye to Zack, who had driven to Luca from D'jose where he went to college, then piled on the bus for the ride home. As they were boarding, Sora had grabbed Roxas by the wrist and led him to the very last seat on the bus, Sora taking the window seat with Roxas on the aisle. At first, they'd joined in their teammates' celebration and camaraderie, but after about half an hour, they'd begun to withdraw, keeping more and more to themselves until the others seemed to have forgotten about them entirely.

It didn't bother Roxas, and Sora didn't seem to mind, either. After a while, they'd fallen into a comfortable silence, Sora staring out the window and Roxas looking down at the medal in his hands.

Light from the passing streetlamps reflected off the shiny copper into his eyes. The disk, no bigger than a quarter, bore the insignia of the high school sports organization and the white ribbon it was attached to was crisp with newness.

Next to him, Sora held a similar medal, only his had a blue ribbon.

Not everyone got one. Apart from the main competition, duelers could also receive recognition for individual performance in the tournament. The top three performing duelers of every rank and class received a medal. It had almost been expected when Sora received the 1st place medal for 1st sword, but Roxas had been a little shocked when he was called to the podium to receive the 3rd place medal for his own rank during the Underclass division's awards ceremony. He really hadn't thought he'd done that well. Vaan had joined him on the winners' platform a minute later. He'd placed first.

All in all, Roxas felt it had been a very rewarding day.

"Good job," Sora said quietly. He, too, was looking at the prize in the blond's hand. "You did really well today, you know. For a new kid, you kick ass pretty good."

"You think so?" Roxas asked. "I mean, I lost against Vaan and I got forced into a third round in two other matches, so…." He trailed off in a yawn.

"True, but the bottom line is that you still won four out of five matches, Roxas. That's really good for a regular dueler. You just started two weeks ago," Sora told him.

"_You_ won every match," Roxas pointed out. He was genuinely very happy to have placed 3rd, but he couldn't help feeling like it was somehow a fluke.

"Yeah, but this is my second year dueling at the high school level and I was dueling in middle school before that. I know you fought in the Struggle against Seifer and all, but you're still essentially a beginner, and you're really good," Sora said, his approval obvious.

Roxas looked down at his medal again. He still kinda felt like he didn't deserve it somehow, but Sora said it was okay, so that was good enough for now.

He yawned again. Exhausted by the day's events as he was, Roxas had a hard time staying awake.

"You're really tired, aren't you?" Sora observed. Roxas nodded, too tired to even voice a proper reply. Without even realizing it, he began nodding off a little, only to be jolted awake again when the bus hit a bump in the road. His head banged painfully against the back of the seat.

"Hey, Roxas?" Sora said.

The blond blinked wearily at him. "Hmm?"

Sora bit his lip, as if a bit nervous about something. "You… could borrow my shoulder, if you want."

Roxas must have frowned, because Sora quickly added, "It's just, you look really out of it and I'm kinda worried you're gonna keel over into the aisle or something and, uh, yeah."

Roxas blinked again. He opened his mouth, intending to politely decline. Then he realized he had no reason to. He was exhausted, it was a change he'd gladly kill for, Sora himself had offered, and for once, he just couldn't summon the energy to keep up appearances. And was it just him, or was Sora's face kind of red? Maybe it was a trick of the light….

Muttering a quiet "thanks," Roxas scooted over and rested his head against the offered shoulder.

It was a very comfy shoulder and Roxas soon found himself falling asleep again.

A strange mood seemed to come over the two of them just then. Everything seemed so hazy and sluggish and distant; the guys talking in the seats ahead of them, the passing streetlights, his own thoughts. The separation from outside company and the small confines of the seat gave Roxas a strange sense of solitude, like this small space was his and Sora's own private little world. Only they existed here; them, the seat, and the passing streetlights.

It was… nice.

He didn't notice it, but with his pleasant thoughts and his elation at having done well in the tournament and just glad to be so close to his crush, Roxas fell asleep with a small smile of quiet happiness on elvin face.

He didn't notice.

…But Sora did.

-o-o-o-

A.N. …Anybody else notice that these things seem to get longer and longer every chapter is it just me? Yeesh, this thing's like 10 pages on Word, and the next one's probably going to be even longer. Yipe! Meh, whatever. I've been looking forward to writing the next chapter since I started this project, it's gonna be _F.U.N_. So stay tuned, alright? Believe me, the party and the good stuff's just getting started!


	7. Chapter 7

A.N. Gotta funny story for y'all. So, about a year ago, my brother offered to watch his best friend's dog while he was on vacation. My brother took the dog to stay at our house, even going so far as to let it in the family room with him while he watched TV. I love dogs, but unfortunately, my mother and I happen to be very allergic to them, so when I started sneezing in there sometime later while playing none other than (you guessed it) Kingdom Hearts, I knew it was because of the dog hair. I paused the game, grabbed the vacuum, and put the PlayStation on top of the TV so I could clean underneath it. While I was vacuuming, however, a car across the street backfired, startling me. I bumped into the TV, which caused the PlayStation to do a complete 180 and land upside down on the floor.

It was never quite the same after that.

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that a friend of mine used to work at this place in the mall that fixes game systems. My PlayStation had stopped working about a month after the "accident" and had been collecting dust in the basement ever since. I dropped it off at the shop to be checked out. They said it would need a new laser or something (along with a thorough cleaning --;;) and that it would cost me around ninety bucks. Not wanting to spend quite that much, I went back a couple of days to pick it up.

Only to find a sign on the door saying the damn place was closed and that all further business with them should be directed to their headquarters three towns over, meaning that if I wanted my PlayStation back, I would have to go over there and get it myself. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy about this, but I thought the inconsiderate berks had just moved shop.

Then I found out from my friend who used to work there that the place was actually shut down by the Feds for suspected criminal activity and they had seized all the equipment and merchandise in the shop and took it to their lab to be checked out by their technicians.

So yeah, my PlayStation is currently being held by the FBI in Washington D.C. as evidence in a criminal investigation. There's probably some egghead tinkering around in the hard drive right now.

I'm not making this up, by the way.

My friends all think this is hilarious, and I know that I'll be laughing my ass off about it at parties sometime in the future, but in the here and now, however, I am not so amused. I'm telling you all this because I'm hoping that by doing so, I'll speed up the process.

That's it. Go read. Now.

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 7

-o-o-o-

The shrill ringing of the telephone disrupted the peaceful quiet of the Highwind residence the following Sunday morning. As he was the only one awake, Cloud Strife answered it.

"Hello?" he said into the mouthpiece.

The caller bid him good morning and asked to speak with the other Strife in the house.

"He's still sleeping," Cloud said, poking his head into his brother's room and sure enough, there was Roxas passed out on the bed. The boy on the other end of the phone made a noise of disappointment, obviously hoping to speak with the blond, but left a message with Cloud nevertheless. As Cloud mentally jotted it down, another part of his brain was busy filtering the message for hidden meanings. And what he found confirmed certain suspicions he'd been incubating for the past few weeks.

Cloud officially had a suitor on his hands.

And there were more suitors than one might believe, both male and female. Fortunately, by the laws of Big Brotherhood, Cloud was liscensed to use whatever means necessary to protect his precious little brother from those unworthy of him, and he did so gleefully.

"Alright... Alright, I'll tell him." Checking once more that Roxas was indeed asleep, Cloud quietly closed the door behind him and retreated to his own room to initiate the Interrogation. "And before you go, tell me, _what are your intentions regarding my little brother_? ...Don't give me that! I saw you sneaking your arm around him last night, don't think I didn't notice!"

For the next several minutes (though it probably felt much, much longer to the boy he was interrogating), Cloud grilled his victim for information on every date, every girlfriend (or boyfriend, considering the circumstances) he had ever gone out with, why he took them where he did and why they did what they did there, his intentions for Roxas, the etc., until he was satisfied.

Most guys would be appalled by another guy going after their younger brothers, but not Cloud. As far as he was concerned, Roxas could go out with whomever the hell he liked, and the younger Strife never had shown much interest in girls, anyway. Nor did he have a problem with Roxas dating in general like many other older brothers. Having had a girlfriend for the past two years, Cloud knew very well the rewards of having a special someone. Any potential beaus merely had to pass a certain... criteria, if you will... to separate the good ones from the riffraff.

This particular suitor, however, had already passed inspection with flying colors, unbeknownst to the boy himself. Having known him for over a year, Cloud was reasonably familiar with his character; he was a good kid, kind, loyal, funny in his own way, affectionate, and his unpredictability would keep Roxas on his toes. His personality was just strong enough that he might be able to coax the young blond out of his shell but no so strong he'd smother him. Last year would not be allowed to repeat itself. And unless Cloud was very much mistaken, and he didn't think he was, Roxas was very much interested in him, too.

So perhaps it wasn't fair to be so rough with him, but still, qualified or not, the boy could not be allowed to think that such unauthorized advances such as the previous evening's had gone unnoticed.

Finally, some ten minutes after the boy had first called, Cloud let him go. "Very well," he said, "I'll allow this... courtship. You have my permission. But boy, always remember."

Cloud put on his most intimidating, most terrifying, most do-not-fuck-with-me, I-know-where-you-live-and-I-will-kill-you-in-your-sleep voice. "Big Brother's watching."

Grinning, Cloud hung up on one satisfyingly rattled Leonhart.

-o-o-o-

_He had no idea how they had ended up like this, but Roxas was long since beyond caring. Sora had him pinned against the seat of the bus, his warm hands boldly feeling around underneath the blond's shirt and his breath sent the most delightful little shivers down his spine all the way to the tips of his toes._

_Roxas strained his neck to meet the other in a kiss but Sora evaded him with a teasing smile. Roxas whined in protest._

"_Not yet, baby," the brunette whispered. His voice was husky and low. Indeed, the mere sound of it was like chocolate to the blond's ears._

_Almost as if to make up for denying him a kiss, Sora began nibbling on the other boy's neck. Roxas let out a soft gasp, the touch feeling so good his eyes fluttered closed of their own accord. Slowly, Sora began working his way up to the blond's jaw, then his ear, then his cheek..._

_Just as Sora was about to reach his lips, the brunette withdrew into nothing. Even his hands seemed to just fade away, leaving Roxas panting for more._

_"Sora?" he called out._

Confused, he opened his eyes.

And found himself staring at his bedroom ceiling.

"..._**Dammit!**_"

-o-o-o-

"Knew it was too good to be true..." the blond bemoaned sometime later as he picked at his breakfast.

"What're you moping about?" Cloud asked as he sat down beside him at the table and helped himself to his brother's sugar-smothered oatmeal.

"None of your bees' wax," Roxas grumbled, swatting the invading spoon away half heartedly. Truth be told, he was too melancholy to be hungry much, never mind that he wore himself down to the bone yesterday at the tournament and that his body was currently aching in places he didn't even know he had. Now that he was awake, he could (hazily) remember Sora waking him up when the bus finally arrived back at school last night, fighting to stay awake during the drive back to Uncle Cid's house, and then Cloud practically shoving him into bed once they got there. It was hard to tell who he was more annoyed at, himself for being so foolish, or his dream for cheating him out of a kiss from Sora, real or not.

Cloud snorted at him, but shrugged. "Whatever," he said, seizing Roxas' orange juice and downing it in one gulp before the younger blond could stop him. Completely ignoring his brother's cries of protest, Cloud continued, "Oh, by the way, Sora called this morning."

Roxas' stomach lurched and he promptly forgot all about his stolen beverage. "What did he say?" he asked eagerly.

"They're having a party over in Destiny Islands next Saturday to celebrate the blitzball team making it to the finals and the dueling team for cleaning house in the tournament yesterday. Sora called to let us know we're invited."

"What kind of party?"

Cloud shrugged. "Dunno."

Leaving his brother to ponder these latest developments, the older blond took one last bite of the oatmeal, then wandered off toward the living room. The sound of the TV turning on brought Roxas out of his thoughts. Shaking his head, the blond returned to his breakfast, only to find his bowl was empty, his glass of orange juice, too.

"Stupid freeloader big brother," he grumbled.

-o-o-o-

Come Monday, it seemed the party was all anyone was talking about at school. Who was going, who wasn't, what was planned for it. Girls compared notes on who was going to wear what, while the guys egged each other on into asking a girl to go with them. Roxas wondered how a single party could host so many people until Sora explained that it was going to be a three-way house/beach party. The Three Kings of the senior class, Shuyin, Gippal, and Nooj, lived right next door to each other on the beach and the party was going to be held at their combined residences.

Roxas still hadn't decided if he was going or not. It sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun, not to mention that, since swimming was going to be involved, there was a high probability of seeing Sora shirtless, his lean torso dripping with either sweat or seawater, Roxas wasn't particularly picky which. On the other hand, not being the most social person, the sheer size of the party intimidated him, and he was a little unsure if he'd be able to keep his cool around that magnitude of Sora-hotness.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette, being the good friends that they were, hadn't pressured him either way, but when Roxas had shared his reservations with Sora, the boy had practically begged him to come, even going so far as to plead with puppy dog eyes and a quivering lip. How the hell he managed to resist the dual cuteness attack, Roxas would never know, but when he remained unsure, Sora told there would be a much smaller gathering he, Rikuu, Kairi, and a couple of others were planning earlier in the day and that if he wanted, Roxas could bring along his three best friends. The smaller size and Hayner, Pence, and Olette coming with him being much more preferable, Roxas agreed to go. Sora glomped him on the shop, promising the suddenly very red in the face blond that it was going to be a blast.

Even now, two days later, Roxas felt slightly feverish just thinking about it.

Speaking of Sora, the brunette was acting a little strangely lately. He was even more hyperactive than usual, at times practically bouncing off the walls in excitement. Roxas also noticed that Sora seemed to be more touchy-feely, like impulsively throwing an arm around his shoulder to flicking him on the nose, just little things like that.

He'd also been rather dreamy, so much so in fact that he'd actually run into a lamp post while skateboarding on Tuesday. And then on Wednesday, Sora had been doodling on his notebook during History class (Roxas couldn't blame him, the day's lesson had been particularly boring, even for Jafar), but Sora, who was usually very alert in enemy territory, was so into whatever it was he was doing, he didn't even notice when Jafar noticed that he wasn't paying attention nor did he even respond when Sir Hiss-A-Lot at all until the snake slithered over to his desk and made the snide comment, "Aspiring artist, are we, boy?"

Sora had jumped in his seat, flushed bright red in embaressment. He'd cast a fleeting glance at Roxas before muttering an apology and only the impeccable timing of the bell saved the brunette from sure detention. He had been more careful about his daydreaming in class since then (as far as Roxas could tell, at least), but still...

Yeah, Sora had definitely been acting strangely.

Roxas decided to confront him about this Friday after dueling practice.

"Hey," he said, coming up to the brunette as the rest of their teammates gathered their stuff to go home.

Sora looked up from where he had been stuffing his practice uniform into its bag. "Hey."

Roxas fidgetted, suddenly very much aware of how much he must look like a blushing school girl asking out her crush, which actually wasn't too far from the truth. "I was thinking… Instead of skateboarding after school, do you want to just hang out at the Usual Spot?"

"Can't today."

"Why not?"

"Too much to do to get ready for tomorrow," Sora explained.

"Oh," Roxas said quietly. He'd been hoping to use their usual alone time to inquire about the past week's unusual behavior.

"What are you planning for that, anyway?" he asked. Despite his obvious excitement over the following day's events, the brunette had been extraordinarily tight-lipped about what they actually were. His one clue, a suggestion that Roxas and company bring swimsuits, had been far from helpful.

"Not telling," Sora replied in a sing-song voice, smiling at the blond's look of irritation. They were the only ones still on the field, now.

"Fine, be that way!" Roxas snapped, puffing his cheeks as he sometimes did when he was annoyed.

"You look like a hamster when you do that," Sora replied, poking the blond in the cheek. He meant it as an appeasement, but Roxas was still kinda miffed anyway.

"I'm not as funny-looking as you are, ya over grown puppy!"

"Puppy?" Sora asked, amused.

It was a nickname Roxas had given Sora after he noticed the brunette actually had spots in the form of freckles. They were almost invisible underneath his tan, the there was a faint sprinkling of them across the boy's nose if you looked closely enough. The analogy fit in other ways, too. The brunette had nearly boundless energy and playful to a fault. He was a human garbage disposale, his favorite food being anything he'd stolen from somebody else's lunch, and just generally delighted in making a nussiance of himself.

Sora was in stitches by the time Roxas finished his little rant. Maybe it was because Sora's moods had always been contagious, but Roxas smiled a little himself.

"Gah- my gut hurts," Sora cried after a few minutes. "But if I'm 'Puppy'," he said to Roxas, "then you're definitely 'Kupo'."

"Oh, so I'm a moogle, now?" the blond asked, playing along.

"No, but you're smart and cute like one. And you hate it when people mess up your pom-pom." Sora reached over and ruffled the other boy's hair. Roxas scowled at him and swatted the offending hand away, thus proving Sora's point. The brunette dropped his hand from Roxas' head to his shoulder, steering him in the direction of the underground concourse. "So, what're you going to do with the rest of today?" he asked.

Roxas shrugged. The motion caused Sora's arm to brush against his cheek. Between the other day's glomp and that dream, he'd had a bit of a hard time looking at the brunette in the face, but all in all, Roxas thought he'd managed reasonably well.

"Dunno," he said, "probably just hang out with Hayner and them."

"Sounds cool." Sora replied. "You know, you're going to have to show me this infamous 'Usual Spot' one of these days, kupo."

"The Usual Spot is a private penthouse, members only. You gotta get in tight with one of us, first." Roxas told him, half-teasing.

Sora's smile was wide and knowing. "Oh, I plan to."

By now they'd entered the underground concourse and Sora removed his arm from around the blond's shoulder. Roxas' neck felt strangely cold without it. They bid each other good bye, Sora heading to Entrance 1 to catch the train home while Roxas headed to Entrance 3 and beyond it, the Usual Spot.

It wasn't until he was halfway there that he realized that Sora had called him cute.

-o-o-o-

A.N. Heh heh, Sir Hiss-A-Lot. Jafar does seem to have a lot of nicknames around Twilight High, doesn't he? Not that any of them are particularly flattering.

As I mentioned in the last chapter, I had originally meant for this one to be much, much longer, covering all the way up to the informal get-together Sora's cooking up, but a scene right in the middle it (Olette was supposed to be giving Roxas advice while they shopped) proved to be much more troublesome that I had thought it would be. Since everything before that was all ready to go and since school starts on Monday, I said to hell with it. I'm posting it anyway.

Read and review!


	8. Chapter 8

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 8

-o-o-o-

Why did girls always assume that just because you're gay, you loved to go shopping? Yeah, Roxas couldn't figure that one out, either. Because right now, he'd rather saw off his own foot.

He was beyond grateful that Olette had agreed to go to the mall with him and had no problem when she started checking out the clearance racks for a swimsuit for herself (not like he could stop her, the girl was a closet binge-shopping veteran).

He knew why she was doing this, of course. Hayner was clueless about it, but Olette had been harboring a crush on the boy since he had saved her from being bullied by Seifer all the way back in third grade. Olette, of course, was equally oblivious that Hayner had had a crush on her for just as long. It would've been funny if it wasn't so annoying, like it was right now. Not being a scrawny little twig anymore, Olette fully planned to exploit her developing curves to garner Hayner's attention and clue him in that she was interested in being more than just friends. But she had to find just the right piece so not to come across as sleazy. If there was little that Olette detested more than a girl who flaunted her butt and boobs just to land the hottest guy possible.

But every last swimsuit she'd tried on hadn't fit right one way or another, and she seemed to require her blond friend's opinion on every last one of them. He loved Olette dearly, but she was asking her to analyze her in ways that, quite frankly, was weirding him out.

"Olette, if I was straight, I'm sure I'd love to hear all about this, preferably with hands-on visual aids. As I'm not, please for the love of God and my sanity, _do not ask me this_!" the poor boy cried.

He could practically see her scowling at him through the door. "You wouldn't mind shopping if _Sora_ was here," she said, poking her head out of the changing room.

"There's a lot of things I wouldn't mind doing with Sora. Your point?" Roxas snapped.

When Roxas finally made it to the Usual Spot, Olette was the only one there. As his unofficial love councilor, Olette had immediately recognized the pensive look on her blond friend's face and knew it had something to do with the blue-eyed brunette he was crushing on. Roxas had tried to skirt around the issue, but Olette managed to wrangle the truth out of him anyway. She didn't seem at all surprised at Sora's strange answers and behavior, just smiled that annoyingly knowing smile that all girls have, patted him on the back, and dragged him to the mall to shop for a new outfit for the party tomorrow.

So here they were. Roxas and Olette glared at each other from opposite sides of a changing room door for a minute before Olette gave a frustrated huff and ducked back inside.

"You want my honest opinion?" Roxas asked through the door.

"Absolutely," the girl called back.

"Just go with whatever makes you happy, not what you think some guy would want you to," he replied.

The door opened and Olette came out again. "Hayner's not-"

"Hayner wouldn't want you to change who you are just to impress him," he told her. "He thinks you're perfect exactly as you are, sharp tongue, massive brains, and all."

Olette slowly looked from her friend to the two-piece she was wearing. Roxas could see that she had been truly touched by what he had said, eyeing herself in the mirror. "So, the green one, then?" she asked demurely.

"Definitely," he told her.

As she changed into her regular clothes, Olette said, "That goes for you, too, you know."

"Huh?" Roxas asked.

"Sora wouldn't want you to change who you are for him, either."

The blond looked down at the shopping bag in his hand. He could just make out the articles of clothing it held underneath all the tissue paper. "You," he choked, "you really think he likes me?"

Olette came out of the dressing room, fully dressed again. She took one look at her friend and immediately sat down next to him on the bench, throwing her arms around him in a hug. Despite all his courage and strength, Olette knew how fragile his kind heart could be. And while he may have only had a crush on one Sora Leonhart, those feelings had grown over the past few weeks into something much deeper. It was one of the reasons why she was trying so hard to get them together.

"Absolutely," she reassured him gently. "He had a pet name for you ready and waiting, didn't he?"

Olette smiled as Roxas blushed at the notion that the brunette had really given him a pet name.

"But how do you know?" he pleaded. "What makes you so sure?"

"Roxas, I'm going to be honest with you," Olette said, looking him in the eye but not unkindly, "like really honest."

"You are kind and sweet and infinitely adorable, Roxas," she told him gently, "But you do have a selective interpretation of things, sometimes. You don't think to watch for those kinds of signals from him because in your mind, Sora is so completely out of your league, it never occurred to you that maybe he likes you back."

Olette knew that Roxas loved her, Hayner, and Pence dearly, but deep down there was an insecurity in him that made him all too conscious of how people thought of him and it was eating away at him from the inside out. She saw it, Hayner and Pence saw it, even his family knew about it, which was why they quietly manipulated Roxas into moving to Twilight Town in the first place. It was why Cloud was so fiercely protective of his little brother when it came to relationships.

Not that Roxas knew he was being guarded so. He would think that they all thought that he couldn't take care of himself, that he was weak. It was the complete opposite, of course. Olette thought Roxas to be one of the strongest, kindest people she knew. But his just barely standing and infinitely fragile self esteem would crumble like a house of cards because he'd take it that way anyway.

This dark spot in Roxas wasn't nearly the gaping hole it used to be, and the blond had come a long way in recovering from it.

But it was still there, still festering, still rearing its ugly head once in a while to cast a dark shadow over her precious friend's smile.

Roxas didn't… he didn't _expect_ love and acceptance from his friends and family, rather he knew that it was freely and willingly given, and for that he loved them more than he could possibly ever say. They had healed every part of his heart that they could reach, but the problem was the blight extended to a place they couldn't reach; romantic love. They couldn't reach that place to heal it.

But Sora could.

Sora was popular and he was kind. He could give Roxas the validation and the confidence that his friends and family couldn't.

She saw it in his smile every time he spoke of the brunette, a quiet happiness she hadn't seen for some time that even the darkness couldn't touch. It gave her hope that Roxas may yet be fully healed, especially when she noticed a certain brunette sneaking glances at a certain blue-eyed blond. Olette knew Sora was going to make his move soon. She just had to make sure Roxas didn't inadvertently sabotage himself and his chances.

Roxas would be good for Sora, too. From working on that lab together in Chemistry, Olette had gotten to be fairly good friends with Namine, and from casual conversation with her, Olette had learned a few things about the spiky haired star of the Underclass dueling team.

He was lonely.

Considering how popular he was, it might have sounded silly, but it was true. Sora had a core of about a dozen or so friends at school that he trusted inexplicably, but the rest of the time… People tried to associate or go out with him just because he was popular. Girls only wanted to go out with him because of the trophies he'd won or the people he knew or because he was cute. They tried to change him, use him for their own goals.

Roxas wouldn't do that. He already loved Sora for who he was.

People often dismissed teenage love as just rampaging hormones, and much of it was, but not this time. No, Roxas' feelings for Sora were absolutely serious.

"So, tomorrow, open you mind and your heart and you will see for yourself how much he really likes you," Olette counseled, the certainty in her voice absolute.

And later that night as Roxas examined himself in his new outfit in the mirror, he hoped, prayed even, that she was right.

-o-o-o-

A.N. Sorry this chapter's so short. It's the shopping scene between Roxas and Olette that was supposed to be at the end of Ch. 7, but I couldn't write it in time to post it with the rest of that chapter. _Buuut_… the tone and dialogue of it didn't really fit in with what is now going to be Ch. 9, either. So I just made it into a chapter of its own, abet a short one. And just so you know, I'm trying really, really, really hard to have Ch. 9 posted by the end of the month. :)

I do need to have a serious word with you guys, though. As of the time I posted this, MKoG had 241 reviews. That's a lot by any standards, and I am damn proud of that.

But that's also out of 15,430 hits. That's a review rate of 1.6 percent. I put a lot of effort into every single chapter of my stories, and it takes a while for me to come up with this stuff, so I readily acknowledge the month-or-more long gap between updates, but even with half of the hits dismissed as rereadings, that's barely even 3.3 percent.

If you have ever reviewed any of my fics, know that this rant is in no way intended for you, even if it was something as simple as "Squee!! So cute!!"

Feedback in the form of reviews is vital to authors. We set out to tell stories of our own creation and reviews are often the only way we know how we're doing. Not getting reviews is like a musician playing a solo out in front of an audience and receiving only silence at the end. And it's not only the quantity of reviews, but the quality.

Reviews are also forms of encouragement as much as they are feedback. Every author on this site has a life outside of fandom, and those lives can get very busy and demanding. Sometimes my life gets so demanding, I forget all about my fics, or I only remember "damn, I meant to work on MKoG or Shadow or FtD" (and I am working on those two, by the way, they are far from dead) until I go to bed at night. By reviewing, you let me and all the other authors know that there's still interest in our work, a gentle nudge in the right direction. I hate it when stories that you're really into get left unfinished by the author, but that's often why they are abandoned.

Like AngelicLucifel said, it's no fun to write for a fandom that's already dead. Not that I think SoraxRoxas is dead (far from it), but it's easy for an author to get that idea if no one reviews their stuff.

Seriously, it only takes a minute or two to click on that little blue-gray button at the bottom of the screen and leave a review.

There, rant over.

Oh, and by the way, for all the people who tell me, "Sorry for the lame/stupid review," don't worry about it. You reviewed and that's enough.


	9. Chapter 9

A.N. I think this is the first self imposed deadline that I've ever actually kept. Go me!! Alright, so I missed it by an hour, big deal!

About the whole brunette/brunet thing that Ambient Oblivion brought up, yeah I know a guy with brown hair is supposed to be called a "brunet", but I've been describing Sora as a "brunette" for longer than I've even known that "brunet" is an option. Someday, when the stars are aligned and I finally have the time, I'll go back and thoroughly edit my fics for grammar, spelling, accidentally omitted content, and other little things like that. But for now, for the sake of consistency, I'll continue to call Sora a "brunette."

Even, so… having Sora as really being a girl, huh? Now _that_ would be an interesting plot twist, heh heh heh…

Anyway, I finally just bought a new PS2 on eBay (my old one is still somewhere in FBI Land, as far as I know), and what other game would be the first I played on it but Kingdom Hearts 2. Damn, I forgot just how sad it is for Roxas in that game! Grrr… stupid DiZ! I don't care if he's really Ansem the Wise, he's a complete and total meanie! So I tried to make this chapter extra happy and full of fluff, just for Roxas! Hope you like it!

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 9

-o-o-o-

The following afternoon was sunny and clear. Roxas stared out the window in fascination as the train raced through the tropical landscape. Beside and across from him, Hayner, Pence, and Olette fidgeted excitedly in their seats. Destiny Islands were among the most beautiful in the world, and the islanders themselves were notorious for throwing the best parties. The three of them were absolutely psyched to be going to one.

So was Roxas, but for an entirely different reason.

Olette had given him a lot to think about yesterday. In a single conversation with her, all the previous week's strange occurrences suddenly made sense. Thinking about it last night, he'd been horrified to realize that if Olette hadn't said anything to him, Roxas still would've been in the dark about Sora's true intentions for today. He might have panicked or frozen during the moment of truth. Or worse, done something stupid like run away or even reject the brunette by accident. Then Sora might have thought he was just a flirt or something and never talked to him again! Roxas still felt so blind not to have seen it sooner. Hell, Sora might have been dropping hints from the beginning!

But he let it go. He knew now, and today he was going to use that knowledge to hopefully, finally get somewhere with his crush. One way or another, Roxas was going to find out how Sora Leonhart felt about him.

He noticed the train was slowing down just as a female monotone voice announced they were approaching Destiny Islands Station. Quickly, he and the others gathered their stuff. Roxas wanted to be the first one off.

Sora was waiting for them at the entrance to the platform, hands folded behind his head.

"Hey!" he called as the Twilight Gang approached him.

Roxas smiled at him. "Nice place you got here," he said, motioning around at the tropical scenery.

"Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet," the islander replied.

Then Roxas noticed something about Sora's outfit. "You're… you're wearing them…"

For perched on top of that spiky head were the very sunglasses Roxas had picked out for the brunette last week.

"Yup!" Sora grinned, putting the shades on properly. "You got yours?"

Roxas took out his own sunglasses and put them on as well.

"Those really do look great on you," Sora told him, flicking the blond on the nose. Roxas fought hard not to blush at the contact and the compliment.

"Come on," the islander said, ignoring the amused grins of Hayner, Pence, and Olette, "Dad's waiting for us."

They followed him to the parking lot, where an older version of Leon stood beside a large red sedan. Sora introduced the man as his father, Laguna.

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Roxas said, offering his hand. "Thanks for the ride."

Laguna shook it. Even upon close inspection, the man looked a helluva lot like his eldest son, save for longer hair and blue-green eyes. "No problem. Let's me guess, Roxas?" he asked, looking to his son for confirmation, who nodded.

"And Pence, Olette, and Hayner," Sora said, motioning to them.

Laguna nodded. "Well, hop in!"

That turned out to be easier said than done, seeing as they had five teenagers and only four seats. Finally, Pence got to ride shotgun while his skinny peers had to just cram in the back seat. Once everyone was situated (more or less comfortably), they were off. On the way, Sora and Laguna pointed out places of interest, namely good places to shop or a favorite pizza joint, the elementary school Sora had gone to, the houses of classmates, the newspaper where Laguna worked, etc.

They arrived at the Leonharts' some fifteen minutes later. It was a moderate sized home, tan with a swing on the front porch. Sora's mother was waiting for them in the driveway. Looking at her, it was obvious where Sora had inherited his round face and wide smile, though her blue eyes were a shade darker than her son's. She smiled at her young guests as they piled out of the car.

"Come in, come in," she said, ushering them inside to the living room.

Roxas looked around curiously as he and the others sat down on the couches, noting the many family pictures and various knick knacks. It was very cozy, and obviously well lived in. Sora once again made the introductions as Raine brought in some of lemonade.

"Oh, so you're Roxas," she said, handing him a glass.

Roxas accepted it with a quiet "thanks." It didn't escape his notice that both of Sora's parents had known who he was. But then, it might've been because Sora had spent the night as his house.

"Riku and the girls here yet?" Sora asked his mother.

"No, not yet, dear," she told him.

They made small talk while they waited for the rest of their party to arrive. Talking to her, Roxas found he rather liked Raine. Her kind smile and quiet but compassionate demeanor reminded him of his own mother. He made a mental note to call her tomorrow.

When Kairi, Namine, and Riku still hadn't shown up yet ten minutes later, Sora took the opportunity to drag Roxas upstairs to his room. Upon entering, Roxas felt suddenly timid. He'd been quite curious as to what the brunette's room looked like ever since Sora had spent the night in Roxas' own and the full realization that he was standing in his crush's _bedroom_ hit him like a ton of bricks.

Sora's room was a little smaller than his own, but not by much, and he probably had more floor space anyway considering Roxas had a double bed while Sora's was a single, pushed underneath the window where it afforded the brunette a magnificent view of the ocean and neighboring islands. His other furniture included a desk, a night stand, a large dresser, and a bookcase that covered an entire wall. On the bookcase were books, old action hero figurines, a model airplane, about four piles of CD's, a lamp, a CD player, and pictures of Sora with various friends and family. Roxas chuckled at one photo of a six-year-old-ish Riku stuffing a crab down the shirt of a panicked but equally young Sora. An entire shelf was devoted to an impressive number of awards, trophies, team photos, and other dueling memorabilia Sora had collected over the years. Spears, nets, and fishing rods were propped up against the wall while several more books lay astride a tackle box. Despite the brunette's carefree and spontaneous personality, the room was actually fairly neat, though there were a few tell tale signs of a hasty cleaning. In short, it was a typical teenage boy's room with a tropical island twist.

"Have a seat," Sora said, motioning to his bed while he dug through a trunk at the foot of it. Somewhat gingerly, Roxas did so. After all, it was Sora's bed. But no sooner than his rear had hit the mattress than a soft mew sounded from somewhere and a small ginger kitten emerged from underneath a large star shaped pillow.

"You have a cat?" Roxas asked, a bit surprised. Judging from the way it squinted and blinked its eyes at him, Roxas supposed he'd just woken it from a nap.

"Yeah, Oliver. He's around here somewhere," Sora replied, lifting a box from his trunk. "Oh, there he is! Stealing my bed again, are you? Little thief."

He sat down next to his guest.

"Is he friendly?" Roxas asked.

"Oh, very," the other boy told him. "Oliver loves people, especially ones that pet him."

To prove the point, Sora took Roxas' hand and guided it to scratch the little cat behind the ears. Oliver purred, arching up into the hand, seemingly not caring that it belonged to a stranger. They both watched for a moment, amused as the kitten twisted this way and that, trying to get optimal affection from both the hands that were petting him. He really was a very cute cat.

This time, Roxas couldn't not blush as his and Sora's hands kept brushing up against each other as they petted Oliver together. But after a minute, Sora cleared his throat and directed his guest's attention to the box he'd removed from his trunk.

"What's that?" Roxas asked.

"My key collection," the brunette told him, grinning.

"Oh, yeah!" Roxas had forgotten he'd wanted to ask about that.

Seeming to realize that there wouldn't be anymore petting for a while, Oliver climbed up Sora's arm and into the hood of his jacket to finish his nap.

While it was smaller than Roxas expected, true to his word, the collection was quite impressive. The keys themselves were exquisite, even if a few were a little bent out of shape.

It was nice, looking at Sora's collection together. The brunette tried to explain a bit about them and the significance of the different features of each one, but the details were just lost to Roxas. His favorites, though, were a rather large dark, gothic key that looked like it had been made out of wrought iron and a delicate silver one with a heart and a snowflake on the end. The craftsmanship on both was just phenomenal, by far the best in the entire collection. For his part, Sora seemed very pleased that the blond liked them so much. They were his favorites, too. Roxas could tell by the light in Sora's eyes how proud the boy was of them.

The peace was disrupted by a commotion and the sound of barking downstairs.

"And that would be Riku and them" Sora said. Almost regretfully, he put the keys back in their compartments, closed the lid of the box, then put it away in his trunk.

"We should get going," Roxas said quietly. He didn't want this moment between them to end, because after this, they were going to be surrounded by other people doing he didn't know what, but at the same time, they really should get a move on.

"Yeah," Sora agreed, just as quietly. Even so, he hesitated for a moment before he joined Roxas in standing and heading for the door. As the blond held it open for him, Sora and Roxas locked eyes, and Roxas knew that Sora didn't want this time between them to end any more than he did.

-o-o-o-

Downstairs, the two boys were greeted by a small crowd of their friends in the front hallway. Riku, Hayner, and Pence were exchanging pleasantries while Namine was introducing Olette and her sister. What looked to be a terrier mongrel wove in and out of everybody's legs, pausing only to sniff at the newcomers. The moment Roxas' feet hit the ground floor, the dog bounded over and tried to lick his face. Not being used to dogs trying to jump on him, the blond flinched and recoiled.

"Hey, Dodger! Down boy!" Riku called, pulling the mutt off of him. Once Dodger was safely restrained, the older teen added, "Sorry about that, he was just trying to say hello."

"That's some hello," Roxas said. He wasn't upset or anything. He just wished somebody had told him to expect pets. Still, once Dodger had calmed down and Roxas got the pet him a little, the canine really wasn't all that bad.

"Everyone present and accounted for?" Sora called out.

"Yep!"

"Alright, let's get this party started!"

Riku and Kairi both affectionately rolled their eyes at their friend's corny line, but nevertheless, they and the others grabbed something to carry before they headed out of the house again.

They must have been quite a sight; five boys, three girls, lots of backpacks and coolers, and one dog marching through the maze of backyards to a series of docks two streets over. And because Oliver had refused to be removed from Sora's hoodie, he came, too.

Roxas frowned when he saw they were headed to a marina. "We're going on a boat?" he asked.

"Yep!" Sora chirped, leading the way down a gang plank. He walked to the very end of the dock before dumping his stuff in the motor boat tied there.

"We usually just row there, but since we have so many more people and so much stuff…" Riku supplied.

"Row where? What are you people planning, anyway?" Pence asked.

"You'll see," Namine replied with a smile.

Now it was the Twilight Gang's turn to roll their eyes.

Once all their gear was situated, Sora took off his hoodie (Roxas pointedly looked away). As he did, Oliver jumped out of the hood and onto one of the seats.

"Liver sticks!" Kairi cried happily, scooping him up.

Roxas blanched. "Liver sticks?" he mouthed to Riku, who just shrugged. Then the blond noticed that Sora was climbing out of the boat again.

"You're not coming with us?" he asked as the brunette walked away.

"Not on that," the islander replied, donning his life jacket. Next to the boat, a wave runner was jacked up on a trailer. Sora took off the protective covering on the craft then carefully lowered it into the water. Once it was free, he climbed on.

"That only seats seven," Sora said, motioning to the boat, "so I'm going on this."

The brunette grinned slyly at the blond. "So, you wanna join me, "or would you rather go with Captain Crunch over there?"

Riku, who'd been getting himself situated in the captain's seat, threw his best friend a dirty look. Sora just snickered at him.

Roxas didn't need to even think about it. He dumped his stuff on a seat, kicked off his sandals, threw on a life jacket, and grinned at the supremely jealous looks all three of his best friends gave him.

"Bye!" Roxas chirped, laughing as he went over to where the brunette was waiting and climbed on behind him. As Sora steered them out of the marina, he had to fight back a wave of sheer giddiness at how damn lucky he was just then; riding on the back of a wave runner with no one but the boy he was crushing on and the big blue waves.

"You're gonna want to hang on a lot tighter than that," the islander advised. It was all the warning Roxas got before they passed the no-wake zone and Sora throttled it.

"WAHH!" Caught off guard by the sudden burst of speed, Roxas threw his arms around the other boy's waist, hanging on for dear life as they sped out toward the open ocean, Sora's laughter ringing in his ears.

-o-o-o-

Once he'd found his sea legs (so to speak), Roxas discovered that going over fifty miles an hour on a wave runner over open ocean was a little too much fun to resist. They rode circles around the motor boat, for which the boat's occupants jeered at them.

"You're just jealous!" Roxas laughed at them as the wave runner sped off again, Sora snickering in agreement. Roxas was having so much fun he forgot to be shy around his crush. They were simply two boys having one hell of a good time. Roxas was sure he yelled out, "This is so awesome!!" more than once, but who the hell cared?

Eventually though, they arrived at their destination, which turned out to be a small island about twenty minutes away, the pair on the wave runner making it there a few minutes ahead of their companions.

Taking off his life jacket, Sora dove off the wave runner into the water, directing Roxas to steer toward the island. Once they were close enough, the brunette took out some cables from a storage compartment underneath the deck, using them to tow the vessel to a wooden bridge where he tied it securely. Roxas then joined his crush in the water just Sora shook his head to rid it of excess water.

"You really are a puppy," Roxas laughed. Sora flashed him a grin over his shoulder.

And right there was the money shot. Smoking gorgeous Sora Leonhart, a few silky strands of chestnut hair hanging down into his lovely face, flashing that dazzling smile over a deliciously bare, wet torso for all the world to see.

It was all the poor blond could do to not pass out right there and then. Looking down quickly to hide his furiously red face, Roxas was suddenly very, very grateful the water was nice, cold, and waist deep. Ahead of him, there was a soft snicker, and when he looked up to see what it was, he got splashed in the face. "Hey!"

Sora outright laughed at the blond, who now resembled a wet cat more than a boy, obviously pleased with his handiwork. Roxas retaliated with a splash of his own but it was a losing battle from the start. Sora had lived near the ocean all this life and had way more experience in water fights, not to mention less clothing to weigh him down (the blond had foolishly forgotten to take off his life vest).

It wasn't long before Roxas was good and thoroughly soaked. So was Sora, of course, but at least he was wet by his own choosing. Indeed the brunette looked particularly smug as his water logged companion glared at him through sopping blond bangs.

The sound of footsteps interrupted their staring contest. Roxas turned around. Another blond boy and two more boys with fiery orange hair were making their way over across the bridge. Roxas recognized one of the redheads. It was Chappu from the dueling team, which meant the other carrot top was probably his older brother, Wakka.

"Hey, guys!" Sora called, waving them over.

"Hey! What's the rub, you two? Not enough water to go around?" the blond boy called back.

Sora laughed, wading out of the water. Roxas followed him, the warm sand feeling good on his cold feet, running a hand through his hair to make himself more presentable.

The lone brunette of the group made the introductions.

"Guys, this is Roxas. Roxas, this is Tidus, Wakka, and of course you know Chappu," Sora said, pointing out each one in turn.

"Ah, so you're Roxas," Tidus said, coming forward and shaking hands. "Nice to finally meet you!"

"Same here." The island blond's hair kinda reminded Roxas of birds' wings, but who was he to talk?

Wakka also shook hands. "Chappu's told me all about you, ya?"

"Creamed Riku the first day he was at practice, I heard," Tidus chipped in, grinning.

"And hey, wasn't Riku and them supposed to be coming with you?" Chappu asked Sora.

"They're coming," he snickered.

Right on cue, the Hayner, Riku, and the others appeared from the other side of the island. "Thanks for waiting!" Kairi shouted at Sora, who grinned apologetically. But it was alright. With Tidus, Wakka, and Chappu's help, they soon had the boat tied down and all their supplies unloaded.

"Lead the way," Roxas told Sora, picking up a cooler. Grinning, Sora did just that.

-o-o-o-

For an island, the Play Island, or Children's Island if you like, was relatively small, about the size of a football field. But for a playground, it was an absolute paradise. There was a long stretch of beach, a dock the other party goers had tied their boats to, two small waterfalls that fed a kiddy pool, a tree house, a high wooden platform where they put all the snacks and stuff, and even another much smaller islet connected by a yet another bridge suspended above the water. There were flowering plants and palm trees everywhere.

"Is there a lake or something up there?" Pence inquired, examining the two waterfalls.

"No," Namine explained. "It's actually artificial. There's a pipe that runs from here back to the main islands that supplies it."

"This place is artificial?" Hayner asked. Roxas shared his best friend's surprise. He never would have guessed.

"The island itself is natural, but most everything else is man-made." Sora pointed to the huge but short trees that made up the bulk of the island. "Those, for example, are actually synthetic. Real trees would rot out after so many years, so they made these for the tree house and stuff."

"I was wondering about that," Olette piped up. "Those things are as thick as redwoods, there's no way they could grow to that size on such a tiny island."

Artificial or not, Roxas loved the multi-leveled, slightly fantastical look and layout of the place.

"Dude, this place's gotta be awesome for playing pirates," he told Sora enviously, who laughed.

"What do you think we did all our childhood?" he answered.

The gang from Twilight Town stared in absolute awe of the island. They spent much of their first hour on it simply exploring to their hearts' content, running around on the sand and climbing up ladders in an effort to explore every nook and cranny they could find, much to the amusement of their native companions.

They weren't the only curious ones, either. Oliver was, too. It was pretty funny the way the little ginger kitten would chase waves bigger than he was all the way out to the sea, only to come scrambling back to shore when the next one came in.

The party had started by the time they had arrived, so there were about a dozen or so other teenagers already on the beach. All the guys were busy catching waves on some body boards (the waves weren't big enough to surf unfortunately, Roxas would have liked to learn) while a few girls were stretched out on towels under a large umbrella. One girl was flying one of those high performance kite further down on the beach. Yet another in a yellow bikini and blonde braided hair ditched the umbrella and took full advantage of the tropical sun to tan herself. She even had a timer to let her know when to turn over. Roxas noticed several of the guys not so subtly checking her out as she chatted with her friends.

Roxas was quite relieved to find out that he already knew most of the other party goers. Apart from the people he'd arrived with, Chappu, Irvine, Luzzu and Gatta from the dueling team were there, along with Selphie from his computer class. Then there was Tidus and Wakka, whom he'd already been introduced, Tidus' girlfriend, Yuna (she was the one flying the kite), Yuna's cousin, Rikku (the blonde in the yellow bikini), Paine, a friend of Yuna and Rikku's, and Zell, Irvine's best friend.

They were all really cool people, too. Yuna was even nice enough to let Roxas try his hand at flying her kite. It was actually much trickier than it looked. Shaped like the legendary bird, Valefor, it twisted and dived in the wind so quickly, Roxas was hard pressed to keep it from crashing into anyone or anything. He gave it back to Yuna somewhat gingerly. She told him not to worry as it had taken her years to learn control her kites. Yuna also mentioned she had another, even bigger one she and Rikku used for kite boarding out in the ocean. Tidus then bragged that she'd won a local competition for it last year. While he congratulated Yuna heartily, Roxas just couldn't fathom going that fast over open ocean with only a piece of fabric to keep you going.

-o-o-o-

In the end, it wasn't so much a party as it was a bunch of teenager hanging out on an island they had pretty much to themselves, which was a very sweet deal. Everyone had chipped in to supply snacks and along with soda of all kinds. And lots and lots of bottled water. As Roxas found out later, one can never have enough fresh water when swimming out in the salty ocean.

Of course, there could only be so much peace and relaxation in a group where almost half were highly competitive duelers. Somehow or another, Sora and Riku goaded each other on into a match, which then escalated again into a all out mock tournament between Sora, Riku, Roxas, Hayner, Chappu, Tidus, Luzzu, Gatta, Irvine, and surprisingly enough, Kairi.

The sole female combatant actually did pretty well until Riku beat her in the second round. Roxas shouldn't have been surprised, considering who she grew up with. And Roxas and Hayner got to have their first proper fight since the latter joined the dueling team. After the other blond beat him soundly, Hayner mumbled something about joining the team himself next year, not about to let Roxas get so far ahead of him in training. Sora was still the overall winner, though.

After the guys were through beating on each other, the girls kicked them off the beach, producing a net from somewhere and starting a game of volleyball, Twilight Town girls vs. Destiny Islanders. But as there was no real way to maintain boundary lines, keeping a fair score turned out to be a very tricky business. But nobody really cared, anyway.

When Chappu, Luzzu, and Irvine's game of keep away with Dodger expanded to become all-out ultimate frisbee, Roxas opted to sit it out along with Olette and Paine. It's not that he had anything against throwing a frisbee around with a bunch of girls and shirtless guys, one of which he currently had a crush on (quite the contrary), but Roxas didn't care for that particular game for the same simple reason he didn't like playing hockey or football. Even with the extra poundage from muscle he'd put on from dueling these past few weeks, he was still a little smaller and lighter than boys his age, and being lighter meant he often got knocked around a lot in contact sports like this one, something he didn't enjoy. So unless he had to play (like in P.E.), Roxas usually just sat out.

And maybe because he still had whatever fashion bug Olette had infected him with yesterday, Roxas also found himself checking out what some of the guys were wearing. Sora had on a pair of bright red trunks with a white tropical print on the bottom while Riku's shorts were dark blue and solid. Hayner had opted for his usual camouflage, Roxas himself was in white trunks with brown panels down the sides. And for reasons known only to the boy himself, Pence had chosen bright yellow shorts with SpongeBob SquarePants' face on the left leg. Go figure.

As for what to do about the problem (or not) of Sora being shirtless, Roxas found that it actually wasn't too big of an issue. All he had to do was concentrate on the brunette's face and not the rest of him. He even managed to putt it off… mostly. And the six or seven times that he accidentally _did_ stare, Olette was there to knock him out of it.

They had an island wide game of Capture the Flag after that, Team Nocturne vs. Team Jazz. Roxas was with Team Jazz on the beach side of the island. Sora and the Nocturnes were on the bay side.

During a Jazz raid on the bay, Roxas stayed a little behind his teammates, one since he didn't know the terrain as well, and two so they could distract the Nocturnes while he made a go for the flag. He hid behind the stairs by the bridge, but was discovered by none other than Sora. Thinking quickly, Roxas faked a look of awe/surprise/concern and pointed at something just over the other boy's shoulder. The moment Sora's head was turned to see what it was, Roxas turned tail and ran for it. Realizing he'd just fallen for the oldest trick in the book, Sora chased after him.

He caught up with the fugitive just feet from the boundary line. Roxas shrieked as he was yanked back by the shirt, strong arms wrapping around him like a vice. But it wasn't enough for Sora simply to have captured his quarry. He tickled the blond mercilessly for trying to trick him before hauling Roxas off to jail.

He didn't stay there for long, though. As part of the plan, Olette had snuck into jail while the Nocturnes were distracted with rounding up the intruders. Then, thinking that the Jazzes were all incarcerated, the Nocturnes launched a raid on the beach side of the island. The second they were gone, Olette quickly freed her teammates. Half of them went to catch the raiding Nocturnes. The other half successfully stole the flag from a greatly outnumbered Chappu.

Sora, along with his teammates, stared open mouthed as the opponents they thought they had beaten were in fact the victors. Roxas ruffled the boy's hair in mock consolation. True to his nickname. Sora faintly growled in annoyance. The blond just grinned at him.

-o-o-o-

It was just as well that the game ended when it did. Everybody was getting kinda tired from all that running around, anyway. Wakka, Tidus, Irvine, and Zell began passing a blitzball around. Kairi, Yuna, and Rikku stole the wave runner and took it out for a spin. Selphie buried her nose in a romance novel (you could tell by the image of a couple passionately embracing on a moonlit beach on the cover), while Paine slipped on a pair on headphones to listen to some music. Sora, Namine, and Riku took the Twilight Gang snorkeling, save for Hayner who'd stayed behind to fish with Chappu, Luzzu, and Gatta. Sora was insistent that Roxas and the others wear life jackets, as they weren't nearly the caliber of swimmer that the islanders were.

Destiny Islands was home to some truly phenomenal aquatic life, the kind you usually only saw on documentaries. One of the (exceedingly rare) benefits of having Ursula for a teacher was that she was really big on all marine life and especially coral reefs, so Roxas had already studied up on tropical aquatic biosystems extensively. But it was still really cool and downright amazing to see the very organisms and processes that he had studied in his textbook swimming before his eyes.

It was like an underwater city down there! The reefs were brimming with more colorful fish and other exotic wildlife than Roxas could ever hope to count. It was mind boggling to think that it was millions of coral polyps, tiny little animals barely a few millimeters in diameter that bound together to create the immense structures of the reef itself. Clown fish darted in and out of their stinging anemone homes. Crabs scuttled sideways across the coral. Ferns swayed in the current like dancers. A family of sea turtles drifted by, their flipper like limbs propelling them through the water as gracefully as any bird through the air. And it was truly awesome to see entire schools of fish swimming and moving together as if of one consciousness.

As Roxas was examining a brain coral bigger than his own head, Sora came over and carefully showed the blond a small crevice where two eels watched the swimmers warily with miss matched white and yellow eyes. Riku spotted a carpet shark lying in ambush on the bottom, its shaggy hide almost perfectly camouflaging it against the sand. Olette awed at a flaming red lionfish even as Namine pulled her back from its poisonous wing-like spines. Pence even found a crown of thorns starfish. While it was small for that particular animal, it was still an extremely dangerous threat to the reef, Roxas knew, excreting its stomach juices onto the coral to dissolve the hard limestone so the coral polyps could be digested. Sora and Riku carefully trapped it in a net they had on them so they could kill it later.

Sora also managed to dive down and catch a sea horse, which he put in a bucket of water for everybody to look at once they'd gone back ashore.

"He's really pretty," Roxas marveled, staring at it. He could tell the poor creature was probably scared to death, but he couldn't help but admire it. The blond had never seen one before except in an aquarium once.

He was so captivated, Roxas failed to notice a certain brunette watching him closely, smiling at the look of pure awe on the other boy's face.

For Olette, as much as she liked the sea horse, to see it in such distress concerned her, so she suggested they set the poor thing free and use the bucket to build sand castles. After swimming out in the cool ocean, playing in the sand and warm sun sounded pretty damn good. So they turned the little fish loose and got to work. Back from joyriding on the wave runner, Kairi, Yuna, and Rikku came over to help.

Olette, Namine, and Riku worked on the main tower while Yuna, Rikku, and Pence built the castle walls and Sora and Kairi dug the moat. Roxas was sent out to find sea shells and other stuff to decorate it with. The few shells he'd managed to find, however, were small and usually broken. Taking pity on her fellow blond, Namine kindly showed him where to find the best shells and such. When Roxas found a few pieces of sea glass amongst the shells, she explained about how sand and salt water deep in the ocean ground against it, wearing sharp edges down until they were smooth and giving the glass a frosted look.

"Sora collects them, you know," the girl told him, smiling.

"He does?" Roxas asked, looking curiously at the pretty green shard in his hand and pocketed it with the others.

By the time they made it back to the others, however, building a sand castle had somehow turned into burying Riku alive. How the hell they got him to agree to it, Roxas would never know, but the silver haired boy was already up to his neck in sand when the two blonds returned. Hayner came over to watch (he and the others gave up fishing after Dodger and Oliver kept stealing all the fish they caught).

When Kairi began placing and arranging the shells her sister and Roxas collected and everybody else started snickering, Riku knew something was up. "Just what are you doing to me, anyway?" he asked, suspicious of the sneaky little grin on the girl's face.

"Putting scales on your tail," Kairi told him as if commenting about the weather.

"She's turned you into a mermaid, dude," Sora clarified, trying and failing to hold back his laughter.

"Say wha!?"

Horror struck, Riku sat up wrenched himself out of the sand. "Kairi, you're dead!"

"But you have the perfect hair for it!" Kairi protested, squealing with laughter even as Riku chased her across the beach.

-o-o-o-

By the time Riku had properly chastised Kairi with a good and thorough dunking, the tide was going out, the sun was beginning to set, and it was time to go back. Uneaten food and drinks were put away in the coolers, equipment was gathered up, garbage was collected, pets were found, and it all had been loaded into the boats. But just to be sure they hadn't missed anything, Sora and Roxas made one last circuit around the island looking for anything they might have forgotten.

"See anything?" Roxas asked.

The other boy shook his head. "Nope, I think we got it all."

Everybody else had gone by now, to get ready for the real party at the Three Kings' later tonight. Only Roxas, Sora and their friends remained. The island was much quieter and calmer without some twenty odd teenagers around to kick up a ruckus. The view of the sun setting over the ocean alone was spectacular. The dying rays seemed to dance on the water, making it sparkle like fireflies.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" Sora murmured.

The blond nodded, marveling at the sight. "You are so lucky to be living in a place like this," he said in quiet awe. "It's paradise."

Sora hummed in agreement.

They continued in silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts. Roxas had not forgotten about the resolution he had made on the train earlier. But one of the other things he'd pondered about last night was what it would be like to actually be with Sora. He'd spent so long coveting the brunette for afar, Roxas had never really stopped to consider what it would actually be like to be together with him. Would they be a good couple?

As they passed the place where Namine had shown him shells could be found, it reminded Roxas of something else concerning his crush. "Oh, that's right!" he said, fishing the sea glass out of his pocket.

"What is it?" Sora asked.

The blond handed him the few little shards he'd found. Sora's eyes lit up as he beheld the pieces of glass. "Hey, sweet! Thanks, Roxas!"

Roxas smiled. It was the brunette's characteristic enthusiastic response to any gift, but it still pleased him nonetheless.

"How'd you know?" Sora asked, looking over the different pieces.

"A little bird told me," the blond replied coyly. He made a second mental note of the day: "thank Namine."

The other sniffed. "Nice. Did you know that sea glass is one of the few things that is actually made more valuable by nature's effects on litter? The anti-litter laws have been getting stricter, though, so it's becoming harder and harder to find."

"I never would have found them if you hadn't insisted that I come" Roxas said. "Thank you for bringing us out here, really. It was a lot of fun."

"I'm glad you liked it," the other smiled at him. "You should come out more often."

"Is that an invitation?" Roxas asked, teasing.

Sora's cheeks colored by just the slightest bit. "Maybe," he said.

They shared a laugh together, and Roxas realized his answer was right in from of him.

Being with Sora would be exactly like this. It was fireworks and it wasn't the world's pest party every night. It was warm and comfortable and close. It was two hearts together, sharing words and thoughts, sharing memories and emotions. Sharing love.

This is what it would be like, this feeling, this moment that he and Sora were having right this second. Only it would be better.

That one great unknown had been Roxas' only cause of hesitation, his only reservation in taking that first decisive step in confronting Sora about his feelings. And to now know the answer was a huge weight off the blond's shoulders. It filled him with a warm fuzzy feeling that he couldn't quite explain.

But it turned out that Roxas would have to wait for that particular conversation. Because just then, they made it back to the bridge where the others were waiting for them in the boat. Hayner especially looked eager to leave.

"C'mon, get a move on, you two! We're gonna be late!" the boy exclaimed, impatient as always.

"Look who's talking," Roxas muttered. Hayner was notorious for being late.

Beside him, Sora laughed. The sound reverberated through the blond, filling his heart with a warm fuzzy feeling Roxas couldn't quite explain.

Still chuckling, the brunette turned to his companion and smiled. "Shall we?"

Roxas nodded. "I say we race 'em back and rub their noses in it, just to tick Hayner off."

They laughed again. And for a long moment, two pairs of blue eyes locked, each marveling at the other. '_I..._really_ like him, don't I?_'

Realizing they were staring, they both blushed and looked away.

On the boat, their friends grinned and pretended not to notice.

-o-o-o-

A.N. And we officially have a new longest chapter, yeesh.

I know several of you were expecting a huge, long declaration of love from Sora, but don't worry. He and I are working on it. The day is far from over, people. Next up in the main party with the rest of the dueling and blitzball teams.

Now, there's a very specific reason why I said I'd have this out when I did. As those of you who are playing attention to the details will notice, Friday, October 26, was the day that I had designated as Roxas' birthday. For plot purposes, I needed it to be sometime in the fall. September was too early and November was too late, so October it was. And I didn't want Roxas' birthday to be on the 13th, one because that's kinda predictable and two because having a birthday on Friday the 13th in the same month as Halloween has gotta be like twice the bad luck or something, so I doubled it to get the 26th.

And it was only about a month ago when I was rereading Chapter 4 that it registered in my head that October 26th is _MY_ birthday, too! Honest to god, it was a complete coincidence! And before you ask, I am officially 21! Although, since I don't drink or gamble, it doesn't feel all too different from my 20th birthday, except I got better presents this time. :D

So, because it's my birthday, Roxas' birthday, and Halloween all kinda rolled into one, I've decided to do another one of those lists of my favorite SoraxRoxas pics, thirteen of 'em to be exact. Seven are Halloween/Halloween Town themed, and six are of cosplayers dressing up as Sora and Roxas. The procedure's the same as last time, just review and I'll send you the list. Oh, and make sure to_include an email address_ if it's anonymous.

That said, Happy Halloween, people! Mwa ha ha ha ha…! (turns into a bat and flies away into the night)


	10. Chapter 10

A.N. After many trials and much experimentation and ripping out of hair, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot write high school party scenes for the life of me. I attribute this to the fact that I didn't go to a single party during my own stint in high school (unless Senior Prom counts, after which my friends and I went bowling at like five in the morning, and let me tell you, trying to bowl in a prom dress is a right bitch) and the only ones I'm anywhere even remotely familiar with is of the college variety, and even there, my knowledge is sadly lacking. If I ever consider writing one again, somebody stop me, I beg you. In any case, the wait is over. Enjoy.

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 10

-o-o-o-

Back at the Leonharts' Roxas scrutinized himself in the downstairs bathroom mirror like a sculptor did his latest masterpiece. He, Hayner, Pence, and Sora had come back here to get cleaned up after their fun on the Island. Olette had gone with the Hikari twins back to their house to do the same. Riku, of course, had also gone to get ready. They would all meet up at the party later.

So here he was, over half an hour after getting out of the shower, fussing over his appearance like there was no tomorrow. Roxas usually wasn't so vain about his looks but tonight was going to be the single most significant night in his (admittedly short) love life. Everything had to be _perfect_. For the occasion, Olette had helped him to pick out a red collared v-neck shirt with a black shirt underneath and black jeans. Black shoes and his trademark four pointed star choker and checkered wristband and rings completed the outfit.

He looked rather good, if he did say so himself. But he wasn't overdoing it, was he? Roxas wanted to look hot, not like a male stripper. He'd even desperate enough to "borrow" some of Olette's cover-up in case of an ache emergency, but so far he'd been lucky and hadn't had to use it. Roxas had also put more care in styling his hair than usual, toning down the more vertical spikes down a little and more off to the side. And last, but certainly not least, Roxas applied a very thin layer of lip balm. After all, no one liked to kiss sand paper lips.

Even in his dreams, Roxas had never actually kissed Sora. They always ended right before he could. But the weighted look Sora had given him just before they'd left the island told him that wasn't going to be just a dream for much longer.

It was this last though more than anything that sent the heat rushing to his face and turned his legs into jelly. Roxas had to take a full five minutes to calm himself down and bring his emotions back under control. But it was going to happen. He wanted it to happen more than anything he'd ever wanted in his life. Seriously, if Roxas didn't get a kiss from Sora tonight, even if it was only a little peck on the cheek, he was going to maul somebody.

So finally, after rearranging his hairstyle (twice), spazzing out and getting his mind lost in the gutter more times than he could count, and Hayner threatening to drag him to the party in the buff if he didn't hurry up, Roxas pronounced himself ready.

"Thank you for finally joining us, Hayner deadpanned, once the other blond finally emerged from the bathroom. He eyed Roxas over once, nodding his approval of what he saw and giving him a smile of encouragement. But it was Sora's reaction that Roxas was really interested in. He, Pence, and Laguna (who was driving them to the party), were waiting for them by the back door in the kitchen. Roxas' stomach twisted into knots at the sight of his crush, looking nothing short of handsome in black capri's, a fitted blue shirt, and a short-sleeved black jacket. The clothes themselves were decent enough, but for whatever reason, they looked really good on the brunette. Swallowing hard and forcing down his nerves, Roxas forced his legs to unlock and walk into the kitchen.

Sora looked up at the sound of footsteps. Seeing Roxas, his eyes widened and his expression slackened. Sora didn't even blink as the blond offered a shy smile, the brunette's eyes raking up and down to take all of him in at once.

The moment Hayner and Roxas entered the room, the three of them turned.

Roxas grinned sheepishly. "Er, sorry for the wait. My hair takes a while, you know?"

Pence and Laguna waved the apology off, instead heading out into the garage. Hayner followed, elbowing Sora as he passed, who had yet to take his eyes of Roxas.

Snapped out of his daze, Sora shook his head a moment to clear it. He shrugged. "It's no problem," the brunette said, clapping a hand to the back of his neck in what Roxas recognized as a nervous gesture. "You look… nice," he complimented, turning to head into the garage.

"Thanks," Roxas said, trying not to show his overwhelmingly relief.

-o-o-o-

"Alright then. You boys have a good time tonight, you hear?" Laguna said, letting them out at the curb. "You got your cell phone, Sora?"

"Sure thing, Dad," the brunette replied, pulling the device out of his pocket as Roxas, Hayner, and Pence exited the sedan. "We'll call if we need anything. And yes, I know I'm to be home by midnight."

"Good boy," Laguna smiled, pulling his son in for a quick hug.

Then Sora slid out of the car, joining his companions outside on the lawn. Mr. Leonhart drove away as Hayner and Pence started for the nearest house, but Roxas remained where he stood on the sidewalk, staring at the sight in front of him.

"You okay?" Sora asked, noticing the look of pure apprehension on the blond's face. Roxas didn't answer.

They weren't houses, they were… mansions. He'd seen pictures of medieval castles that were smaller. And they were already packed with people, but the party was only just beginning, who knew how many more were still coming. It was one thing to know that practically his entire school was going to the same party. It was quite another to see his entire school out and about at said party en-masse. And considering he was the newest member of one of the teams that the party was being held for, Roxas was probably going to be getting a lot of attention tonight. The blond swayed on his feet, feeling suddenly daunted.

A warm hand on his shoulder steadied him. It was Sora. "Easy," he said.

"Have I ever told you I'm _really_ not good with crowds?" Roxas muttered, the fear in his voice clear as day.

Sora looked from the blond to the huge edifice in front of them. "I know it seems like a lot right now," he said gently, "but once things get going, it's not so bad."

He took Roxas by the hand, giving it a squeeze. "Besides, if you want, we can always leave."

The blond gave his crush a grateful smile. It comforted him that Sora had said "we." He wasn't going to be alone in this.

Sora smiled back, giving the blond's hand another gentle, reassuring squeeze before they walked ahead to where the others– and the party- were waiting.

-o-o-o-

As Nooj's house was closest, they tried there first. It was your classic island villa, tan with a terracotta tile roof, complete with large bay windows and a beautifully landscaped front lawn decorated with birds of paradise, a few orchids, hydrangeas, and other exotic tropical flora. A white olive tree stood guard over a small artificial brook, the bench underneath it having already been claimed by a couple. Roxas watched them for a moment as he and the others walked passed.

Upon entering, they found themselves in a spacious but modest front hall, already busy with people coming and going. Though ignored the first few seconds they were inside, once their fellow partiers realized just who had arrived, Sora and Roxas were almost immediately swarmed with people and somehow found themselves dragged over to a lounge area where they could be interrogated properly. It was just like at school the first few days after he'd joined the team, only here Roxas couldn't say he had to get to class as an excuse to get away. Most were people he'd either never met before or had only a vague recollection of seeing at school once or twice.

But before Roxas could ever begin to feel overwhelmed by all the attention, Hayner or Pence or Sora was right there beside him, lending support and in Sora's case, helping take some of the heat. Also like in school, girls flirted with both him and Sora, or tried to. Roxas did his best to politely sidestep the unwanted attention and to the blond's immense relief, Sora too was either politely declining advances or outright ignoring them.

They mingled like this for about quarter of an hour before Hayner deemed that they'd done enough and dragged his friends away to another part of the house. Ducking into the kitchen to see what snacks were available, they passed a large room that had to be the epiphany of every gaming fanatic's dreams.

In other times, it looked like your average lounge room, but for the party, it had been remade into the largest gaming room Roxas had ever seen. Just like what some of the other teams had done at the tournament, TV sets had been set up against the walls of the room, each of them connected to a video game console for people to play. They were all multiplayer games, Roxas noticed, looking around. Anyone could participate it seemed, but they did have to wait in line, and each person had a set amount of time to play until they had to give up their controller to the next person in line so everyone got a fair turn. The line for Halo 3 alone was out the door. Most of the gamers present were guys, but there were a few girls who were holding their own.

Roxas spotted Cloud, Leon, Nooj, and some white haired senior having at it on Wii Tennis on the other side of the room and called out to his brother. The older Strife looked up to return the greeting, but then Nooj took advantage of his opponent's momentary inattention to the game to launch an all-out assault on him. Roxas chuckled as he heard Cloud throw a rather colorful curse in retaliation, but wasn't surprised. Uncle Cid cursed like an old sailor, after all.

"Where'd they get all the equipment for this?" Pence wondered aloud.

"Every time they have a big party like this, Nooj always has every TV in the house set up in this room," Sora explained. "It gives guys something to do, but it's also a security measure."

"How so?" Roxas asked.

"Because down here, there are too many people paying attention to what's going on in the game, whereas if they were just sitting upstairs, alone and unguarded, someone could just up and walk off with them," Hayner said. "So which game do you guys wanna play?"

To his best friend's dismay, Roxas couldn't play first person shooters to save his life, so they didn't bother waiting in line for those particular games (which was well over half), though Hayner looked sorely tempted by Halo. Instead, Sora nudged Roxas and pointed over to a corner where none other than Mario Kart for GameCube had been set up on one of the smaller TV's. "Rematch?" the brunette suggested, a competitive gleam in his eye.

"On, you're on!"

So the four of them got in line, waiting for a good fifteen minutes until their turn came. In their excitement, Hayner and Pence had forgotten the cardinal rule for playing this particular game with Roxas; _never_ let the blond play with Waluigi. He was a downright bastard when it came to bombing people, leaving the explosives in narrow tunnels and other choke points where it was sure to inconvenience as many other players as possible or someplace where players couldn't avoid driving right into them or on bridges or next to the edge of the course where, in addition to getting blown up, they also got knocked off the track and had to wait to be rescued by Latiku. Of course, his dirty tactics did backfire on Roxas on occasion, but it was always well worth it, especially when Hayner started cursing at him.

Once their turn was over, the boys decided to go and check out what was going on at the other two houses. They'd only made it five feet out the door when a familiar face emerged from among the throng gathered on Nooj's patio.

Olette was making her way towards them through the crowd, Kairi, Namine, and Riku trailing behind her. "Hey, guys!" she called.

None of her three best friends returned the greeting, they were too busy staring. Olette looked _beautiful_.

She was wearing a green halter top, the fabric narrowing from the bust upwards in a triangle that ended just below her throat, were it was held in place with a cord tied around her neck, leaving her upper back exposed. White capri pants cut to just below the knee accentuated her thin but strong build. She wore no jewelry, save for a simple silver ring on her left index finger and an anklet, and the only hints of make-up were a bit of eye shadow and lip gloss. And though her brown hair was tied back in a simple bun, something about it seemed… glossier, richer than usual.

Roxas had been with Olette yesterday when she bought the top, but seeing her in it now that she was all done up was just… wow.

Seeing Hayner's reaction, the blond snuck a glace at Olette. The girl was beaming, obviously very pleased. Catching Roxas' eye, Olette smiled a silent thank you, to which he just shrugged. Seeing one of his best friends so happy and the other so dumbstruck with awe made yesterday's torture more than worth it.

"Mouth closed, Hayner. The flies are getting in," Pence teased. The boy snapped his jaw shut, stuttering. His brown eyes promised swift and sound revenge, even as his cheeks went red with embarrassment and the others shared a hearty laugh at his expense. Really, Roxas thought, it was what he got for being so obvious. Besides, he'd been waiting for this moment for _years_.

"Oh, leave him alone, you guys," Olette chided gently, still smiling a little.

"Did you guys just get here?" Sora asked.

"Yeah," Riku told him, "the girls were taking forever to decide what to wear."

"What?" Kairi demanded. She was wearing a short pink dress that zipped up in front with a little white camisole underneath. "We did not! You were the one who had to take the long way and get stuck in traffic! You know what, just for that, you're dancing with me tonight and you're not getting out of it!"

Seizing him by the collar, Kairi proceeded to drag Riku away, making good on her threat even as Riku loudly objected. Hayner, having he'd found his tongue around Olette again, asked the girl to dance with him as well, to which she happily agreed, while Pence and Namine went off to find refreshments.

And just like that, Roxas and Sora were alone. "So, I guess it's just you and me then, huh?"

-o-o-o-

They decided to meander over to the other houses for a while. Following their friends, Sora and Roxas went to check out what was going on at Gippal's. It was the smallest of the Three King's residences, though none of them could be called small by any means, white-washed and decorated in a distinct south-western style with a low, twin staircase leading up to the back patio. Whereas the atmosphere at Nooj's was very relaxed and laid-back with everyone just hanging out and socializing or playing games, over at Gippal's, it was a regular night club. Inside, people were dancing to music provided by the in-house stereo system, and save for a few back rooms, it was lit only by strobe lights, dark lights, a few lamps, and multicolored Christmas lights strung up just about everywhere. Roxas could hear the heavy base and the clear, bell-like voice of the lead singer well before he and Sora actually entered the building.

"_It's real emotion shakin' up the world. I'll never give it up. I don't ever want to. Lose this far, no more than I can do. When I am just too wrong and in my heart I can hear you say, that I am not alone_…"

"Is that Lenne?" Sora said aloud, pausing to listen to the music.

Roxas frowned at him. "Who?"

But Sora just took his hand and pulled him deeper into the house to what appeared to be a large living room. A very beautiful girl sporting a blue and white outfit with beads strung into her long dark blonde hair was performing up on a stage that had been set-up along the back wall. A crowd had gathered to watch the performance and Roxas glimpsed Olette and Hayner further in amongst the throng. He and Sora squirmed their way over to them.

"She's really good, isn't she?" Olette said to the blond, almost yelling to be heard over the music and the crowd. She had her arms up in the air, moving to the music, her face was flushed with excitement.

"Yeah, I know," Roxas half-yelled back. Even Hayner seemed to be having a good time. Oblivious to their conversation, Lenne belted out the last few lines of the song like there was no tomorrow with more style and grace than any ever seen on _American Idol_.

"_What can I do for you? What can I do for you? What can I do for you? I can hear you! I can hear you!_"

They stayed for a few more songs, some of them original, some by other artists but all of which were as good as the first, until Lenne herself announced she and the band would be taking a short break. Saying goodbye to Hayner and Olette, who were sticking around for the rest of the performance, Roxas and Sora excused themselves and headed outside for some fresh air. Roxas was getting a little hungry, so they headed over to Shuyin's for some grub.

Shuyin's was the largest of the three residences and apparently, Sora had been saving the best for last. A Mediterranean style, two-story villa with white-washed brick façades, terracotta tiled roof, and Roman-pillared colonnades running the length of the house. A buffet table had been set up in a pavilion on the back patio, next to the large pool and in-ground Jacuzzi.

Roxas spotted Pence and Namine sitting together on one of the patio's many lounge chairs. He'd been worried that Pence would feel a little snubbed with not one but all three of his best friends off tending to their love lives, leaving him alone at this huge party. But like everything else, the boy seemed to understand and took it all in stride. Indeed, he looked to be quite enjoying himself, talking animatedly with Namine about something or another, their plates of half-eaten food evidence of a long and engaging conversation.

Roxas let them be.

As they passed the pool, a long red haired girl (Roxas mistook her for Kairi for a moment before he saw her almost electric blue eyes) who was swimming with her boyfriend, called out to Sora and waved. The brunette returned the gesture and the girl went back to her boyfriend.

"Who was that?" Roxas asked.

"Ariel Triton," Sora told him, "captain of the girls' swim and water polo teams."

"Hmm," was all Roxas could think to respond. He hadn't been aware that their school even had a water polo team.

Over at the buffet, there was all the usual party food; chips, pigs in a blankets, nachos, hot dogs, fruit slices, shrimp cocktails, buffalo wings that were already gone, various pastries and confectionaries. There weren't as many local-style dishes as he would have liked, mostly just snacks and finger foods, but Roxas could imagine that it would be very expensive to properly cater to so many people. And much to the blond's relief, bottled water and canned soda was also provided (there had been a few kids walking around with drinks that looked suspiciously alcoholic at Nooj's earlier, but not many. Maybe Sora was just being careful to steer him away from wherever they were being served. Or maybe it was still too early in the evening for that, Roxas didn't know). He just piled a little of everything on a plate, grabbed some soda, and followed Sora down the tiki-torch lit path to the beach.

The cool evening breeze and steady crashing of the waves felt good after the humid and charged atmosphere of Gippal's living room. They found a deserted patch of sand and sat down to enjoy their food.

"You know, that girl back at Gippal's was very good" Roxas said to Sora conversationally, munching on a shrimp.

"That's Lenne Braska," the brunette told him, digging in to a slice of pineapple, "Yuna's older sister and Shuyin's girlfriend. She's been singing since the day she was born and everybody says it's only a matter of time before she gets a record deal."

Roxas was surprised she didn't have one already. Watching Lenne up on stage, the blond had had to marvel at the guts that girl must have, being able to perform in front of the many party-goers who had come to watch.

They fell into quiet conversation after that, slipping from one topic to the next, not lingering on anyone thing for long. More than anything else, Roxas focused on listening to Sora laugh and memorizing the sound of his voice. Even if it was only chitchat, it was still… private, intimate somehow, spending time getting used to each other, though hanging out and having fun together at the Children's Island earlier had really helped in his being comfortable and at ease in Sora's company like this. The sun had set by now, so it was too dark to tell, but many times Roxas thought he saw the other sneaking glances at him out of the corner of his eye, only to quickly look away again. Roxas himself sure did.

They were interrupted occasionally by passersby who recognized them, but by and large, the couple was left alone.

That is, until a light-up frisbee came careening out of nowhere to just barely miss smacking Sora upside the noggin.

"Heads up!" somebody called from further down the beach.

"Hey, watch it, Herc!" Sora yelled back from where he'd ducked down to avoid the incoming missile. "You almost took my ear off!"

"Herc," a tall, muscular guy with wavy golden hair, grinned sheepishly as he jogged over to them to retrieve the wayward frisbee. "Yeah, sorry about that, Sora."

"Meh, kid needed a haircut, anyway, I say" another boy, tan with thick black hair, said as he followed behind Herc. Sora scowled at him, but it was a friendly scowl, the kind one reserves for a buddy who was yanking their chain, but grinned after a moment. "Hey, Al."

"Hey, Sora," the boy replied, grinning as he looked over the two seated before him curiously. "And you are?"

"Roxas. Nice to meet you… Al, was it?" The blond offered his hand to the newcomer.

"Aladdin, actually," the boy smiled, shaking hands. "Al's just a nickname. And this is Hercules."

"Hello," the other blond said affably.

"Herc here's the heavyweight of the wrestling team," Sora explained to him, "and Al's… Al's just Al."

Pleasantries over, Aladdin and Hercules chatted with them for a minute before they tried to persuade the younger boys to join in their game, but they declined, neither wanting to abandon the private moment they'd been having, and so the two let them be. Once they were alone again, Sora turned to Roxas. "Busy beach," he said, he said with a hesitant expression. "You… wanna go somewhere else and talk?"

Roxas paused for a moment. They'd been building up to this moment all evening. Even so, he took a moment to reassure himself that all this was really happening before he replied. "Sure."

His crush responded with a warm, happy smile. "Follow me."

-o-o-o-

Sora led him to a room up on the third floor of Shuyin's. It looked like an office, or maybe a study, if the many shelves laden with books and the writing desk in the far corner were anything to go by. But the best part was the small, private balcony attached to it, complete with two chairs and a small table. Perfect.

"Oh, wow," Roxas murmured, stepping out onto it. The view from up here was breathtaking, especially the sky. There was very little cloud cover, and in the absence of bright city lights, the stars seemed to twinkle like so many gemstones. The waxing moon hung low in the west, a thin crescent of gold.

"Hmm?" Sora inquired, joining the blond out on the balcony.

Roxas motioned to the heavens. "It's really pretty up here," he said. "Back in Midgar, there was always so much smog and light pollution, you never got to see so many stars like this. It's beautiful."

"You know," the other boy said quietly, following his gaze, "the native islanders used to believe that the stars were actually other worlds."

"Really?" Roxas asked. He'd always loved astronomy and folk lore.

Sora nodded, leaning against the rail. "In their myths, there was once a perfect world of light where everyone was always happy. But then people became selfish and began to want the light only for themselves. They fought over the light, and so darkness was born."

Roxas scooted closer, listening intently.

"The darkness swallowed the light and the perfect world was lost, and the people themselves along with it," the islander continued, looking over at his companion. "But fragments of light still remained in the hearts of children and they used the light to restore parts of the world."

Almost unconsciously, Sora reached over, brushing a lock of golden hair out of the other boy's eyes. "But the true light still sleeps in the darkness, and so the world remained broken as punishment for the people's greed. The natives believed the points of light they saw in the sky were the islands, fragments of the old world, and that someday, when the true light returns, all the islands of light would come together and be one again."

Roxas leaned in, fascinated.

"It's a corny bedtime story, I know. Nana Hikari used to tell it to us all the time" Sora laughed nervously, a hint of a blush coloring his cheeks.

"I like it," the blond said, turning away from him to gaze up into the night sky. "It makes me feel… I dunno, connected somehow."

Sora hummed in agreement and they fell in thoughtful silence, as is common when people ponder the stars. After a while, Roxas closed his eyes, listening to the sounds around him. He heard the people talking on the patio below them, gulls crying as they flew on the wind, waves crashing on the beach. The party seemed to be winding down actually. He could see the people down on the beach begin to pair up for the night and wandering off into the darkness. Or maybe everybody was just taking a quick break before round two, seeing as it wasn't even ten thirty yet. Even Lenne seemed to be taking a breather, or perhaps her performance was over, judging from the song Roxas could hear playing over the stereo system next door at Gippal's. After a moment of listening, he recognized it as _Iris_, by the Goo Goo Dolls.

But more than anything, he was intimately aware of Sora standing next to him, his breathing quiet over the salty breeze. They were almost shoulder to shoulder now, but to Roxas, it wasn't close enough. The blond wanted more. As the music coming from next door reached a particularly heartfelt pitch, he had a sudden idea.

"Would you like to dance with me?" he asked Sora quietly.

Sure, it was cliché and beyond overused in the movies, but that just meant that it was time tested and therefore foolproof, right?

…Right?

But then Sora just stared at him and Roxas felt his bubbling courage begin to crumble like a house of cards. "Well, I mean… only if you want to, of course. I was just wondering, just a stupid idea I h-"

"I'd love to."

The quiet admission stopped Roxas' babbling dead in its tracks. With barely concealed hope, the blond turned to his crush. "Y-you would?"

Sora nodded, smiling at Roxas with an emotion in his deep blue eyes that the boy couldn't identify. He stood up, pushing his chair and the table out of the way, Roxas doing the same.

Once the balcony was clear, Sora offered his hand like he was a Southern gentleman at a ball and Roxas was his belle. Giggling at the other's display, Roxas took it, smiling. They kept up the charade for a few moments, until Roxas noticed something. "Alright, where's you learn to dance like this?" he asked.

Sora laughed sheepishly. "Well, when we were kids, Kairi started to really get into dancing, but she needed a partner to sign up for lessons. Namine was already busy with her art stuff, Riku was at that age where he wouldn't be caught dead with a girl (and my how times have changed), so she dragged me along," he explained, a little embarrassed. "I mean, it was a really long time ago, but it stuck with me."

"You must have learned your lessons well, then," Roxas complimented.

"Thanks. You're not bad yourself, Roxas," the other boy said, holding their clasped hands above the blond's head. It took Roxas a moment to realize that he was supposed to spin, doing so a little awkwardly. Sora chuckled at him.

"Oh hush, you," Roxas mumbled, though grinning a little.

They fell silent again, letting the music wash over them.

"_And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am…"_

Sora drew Roxas close, holding the blond gently against him. Roxas swallowed thickly. Sora's face was about three inches from his.

But looking directly into those piercing blue eyes was too much, Roxas buried his face in Sora's shoulder, his heart pounding hard, but steady, the scent of rainstorms all but flooding his senses. They were so close now, they were practically standing still.

"Roxas," Sora said quietly, "you know I- I _really_ like you, right?"

Roxas' heart pounded so hard, he felt like it was going to leap straight out of his chest. Everything he'd ever hoped for, everything he'd ever dreamed of, was happening before him now. Summoning his courage, Roxas took a deep, steadying breath and willed himself to look straight into Sora's crystal blue eyes.

"Yes…" he whispered, "I know. And I really like you, too."

It felt so good to finally to be able to say it to the one to whom it mattered the most.

Sora said nothing, just gently nuzzled the blond's cheek, the warm puffs of his breath giving the blond little shivers. And when Roxas turned to look at him, Sora kissed him.

Time itself froze as Roxas took in the feeling of Sora's tan lips moving shyly across his own and it was a moment before he could return the affection. The kiss was simple and gentle at first, each afraid that if he pressed back too hard, the other would shatter into nothing, and this would all be just another dream.

But it wasn't a dream, it was real.

Roxas shivered a bit, feeling his knees begin to give out on him and pressed closer to the other's warmth, Sora wrapping his arms more fully around the blond to shield him from the evening chill. He gave a little gasp as Sora gently raked his teeth over the blond's lower lip, worrying it gently and Roxas opened for him obediently. Sora tasted, well, he tasted like the fruit he'd eaten earlier, but Roxas didn't particularly care at this point, angling his head to the side so he could press their lips even closer. He'd forgotten how good kissing felt, how it dissolved his mind in a gentle haze even as his body responded to Sora's touch.

They were so involved in each other, neither boy noticed when the song they'd been dancing to ended and another began. They _did_ notice, however, when the door opened.

There was a click of the handle turning, and two pairs of blue eyes snapped open. Startled by the sudden intrusion, Sora and Roxas flew apart, putting a good three feet between them just in time to see none other than Pence step into the room. The couple stared at him like deer caught in headlights. While Roxas could think of worse people to have interrupted his romantic moment with Sora, that one of his best friends had nearly walked in on him making out with the boy of his dreams was beyond embarrassing. Sora seemed to share his sentiments.

Upon seeing them, Pence paused for a moment. While the boy's expression was mostly along the lines of sorry-to-interrupt/good-for-you/about-damn-time, his eyes said that _yes_, Pence had noticed the heavy breathing, the flushed faces, the bruised lips, and he was very sorry to inform his blond friend that it was horribly obvious what they'd just been up to.

Beyond mortified, Roxas groaned, burying his face in his hands, leaving Sora to greet the newcomer. "Um, hi," he said lamely, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Really sorry to interrupt guys," Pence replied, looking it, "but they're looking for you downstairs."

Sora frowned. "Why?"

The other brown-haired boy shrugged. "Dunno. Something about pictures, I think, 'cause they want all the duelers. We figured we'd come find you before anybody else did."

"We?" Roxas frowned.

"Hayner, Olette, Kairi, Namine, Riku, and me," Pence explained. "Come on, they're waiting for us downstairs."

Pence then turned and exited the room into the hallway. But as Roxas moved to follow his friend out the door, Sora gently caught him by the arm. "Um, this wouldn't mean that you'd be interested in going to see a movie with me next week, would you?" the brunette asked shyly, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't holding the other's wrist.

A slow, happy smile crept its way up the blond's face. Pulling his boyfriend close (and _damn_ if it didn't feel good to finally be able to call him that), Roxas gave him a soft and tender kiss. "What do you think?"

Sora pretended to seriously think about it. "I'll take that as a yes," he decided, grinning.

"Silly puppy," Roxas giggled, nuzzling the brunette before leaning in to kiss him again.

There was a rather loud cough from the hallway.

Jumping apart for the second time, both blue-eyed boys flushed. That was twice now that they'd been caught in the act. "Right, we'll be going now," Sora muttered, Roxas taking him by the hand and following him out.

-o-o-o-

A.N. I was originally going to end this chapter in a cliffhanger, but after an IM session with ejaculatedteabag and some reevaluation of where it would take this fic, I decided not to. As such, it's shorter than it was meant to be, but I don't think anybody really wanted me to drag it out any longer, anyway, so :p. Also, I would have had it to you guys a lot sooner, but some a-hole decided to hack my computer and damn near crashed the darn thing. I managed to recover most of my files and stuff off of it, but I still had to go out and buy a new one and it really set me back, both in my schoolwork and my fic writing.

In other news, I went to see _Horton Hears A Who _the other day. It was very cute and I highly recommend it, but the entire time, I was waiting and waiting for Jojo, the Mayor's son, to speak (he's voice by the same actor as Roxas, Jesse McCartney), and when he finally does, it's for a grand total of 7.4 seconds at the very freaking end, and it really bugged me. Harrumph!


	11. Chapter 11

A.N. Considering the last two were absolute monsters, this chapter seems almost obscenely short, but not as short as Chapter 8, so it's cool. Also, I am well aware that the movies I've chosen are already out on DVD, but they were still in theaters when I started writing this chapter, so I'm sticking with them.

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 11

-o-o-o-

Roxas was the picture of anxious excitement the following Thursday afternoon as he waited for Sora after practice under the large oak tree on the far side of the school soccer fields. Gazing up into the boughs of the tree, he took a deep breath and prayed for inner calm, for in not but the few minutes yet it would take the brunette to get here, Roxas and Sora would be going on their first official date.

Roxas couldn't wait. Hell, he could hardly believe that this was even happening in the first place. After leaving the party Saturday night almost a week ago in a Sora-induced daze, Roxas had spent all of Sunday in either fits of giddy madness or calling each of his best friends in turn for reassurance that he hadn't just dreamed the whole thing up. But he hadn't, and so on Monday after practice, Sora had asked Roxas what he wanted to do for their date.

Even if it was only a movie, Roxas was still excited out of his mind, but he was nervous as well. He'd never actually had a boyfriend before, he didn't know what to do. He knew that Sora liked him. He knew that Sora knew that Roxas liked _him_. But how would this mutual knowledge change their relationship and their interaction with one another? They'd kissed once at the party and then again before the Twilight gang caught the train home (for which he'd had to endure much good natured teasing from Hayner, Pence, and Olette), but not since. There hadn't been any opportunities to. By unspoken agreement, neither of them wanted anyone to know about their new relationship but their closest friends, so in public they acted more or less like regular friends, and that was cool. It was being around Sora in private that had him so uncertain. How much affection should he show and how? Roxas didn't want to come across as needy or clingy, but nor did he want to seem standoffish or disinterested, and the blond felt he had too little experience to find the median in between.

Judging from his friends' faces when he told them about these new concerns, Roxas probably over-thinking things again (he usually did) but he couldn't help it. He really liked Sora and Roxas was terrified of doing something to screw up their relationship.

The sound of footsteps on grass announced Sora's arrival to their meeting spot and the end of Roxas' introspection time. Looking over, Roxas saw Sora walking over towards him in brown jeans, a green shirt, and his usual heart-fluttering smile. Roxas smiled back and waved, suddenly feeling a little weak in the knees. The green of the other boy's shirt made his eyes look bluer than ever. Come to think of it, he'd never seen Sora in a green anything before. The blond vainly tried to straighten his own clothing one last time in an effort to hide his nervousness. After much fashion advice from Olette (really, she was going to start charging him consultation fees for her services if he kept this up), Roxas had chosen to go with a black, short sleeved collared shirt, tan corduroy pants, and his usual gray shoes with the red laces. Nice, but not overdone. Only now he kinda wished he hadn't worn the corduroy's, they made funny swishing noises when he walked.

"Hey," Sora greeted as he joined Roxas under the tree.

"Hey, yourself," the blond said, a bit breathless. They stood there a moment, each taking the other in, trying to grasp that this was really happening. Finally, Roxas offered, "Shall we go, then?"

And they were off.

-o-o-o-

The walk from school to the theater was a bit uneasy, Roxas still being way flustered around Sora in private like this. He kept stumbling over his words every time the brunette tried to engage him in conversation, and couldn't really think of any good topics himself. They tried talking about school, but as they only had a single class together and had chewed over their mutually disliked teacher many times before it was starting to get a little old, at least until Jafar gave them some new material, and the topic faded quickly. There were no big tournaments coming up in dueling to discuss, either. Everything he tried to bring up seemed so mundane, trivial, the kind on conversations they always had. Shouldn't they be talking about something more… meaningful for a first date? Either way, Sora seemed to be having as much of a conversation block as the blond himself was. The end result was fifteen minutes of on-and-off semi-silence that was more than a little awkward.

'_This dating thing is harder than it looks_,' Roxas thought, and was more than a little relieved when they finally made it to the multiplex.

Sora's original proposition had been for dinner and a movie, but between dueling practice after school and Roxas leaving with Cloud to visit their father in Midgar tomorrow evening, the dinner portion of the date had eventually been left out.

When they got there, however, they found it already packed with people, family, couples, you name it. That in itself was a little unexpected, it being a Thursday. But as they entered the building and got in line to get their tickets, Roxas looked up to the listings display above the tellers' counter and saw that the movie they were here to see was sold out for the next four showings.

"Well, darn…" he said, frowning.

"What's up?" Sora asked, leading the blond forward as the line continued to slowly move.

"It's sold out," Roxas explained, pointing to the display.

Sora scanned the listings and frowned himself. "Well, now what? Is there anything else you want to see?"

Roxas looked over the movies still available, considering each one carefully. What kind of movie did two guys see on their first date together, anyway? They'd agreed on _Wanted_ initially because it looked awesome and had only just come out last week so neither had seen it yet, but since it was sold out… Roxas mused that on any other date it probably wouldn't matter so much, but since it was their _first_ date…

"How about _Wall E_?" Sora suggested beside him.

"Mm, maybe," Roxas said, "but it starts in like five minutes, we won't make it." They were still only about halfway through the line.

"We can miss the previews," Sora said easily. "Tell you what, then. I'll stay here and get the tickets, you go get us some popcorn and soda."

It was fair enough, and there wasn't anything else Roxas really wanted to see, so he gave his date ten dollars to pay for his ticket and left to get in line for the concessions' stand. Nine minutes later, armed with ticket stubs, two Sprites, a large popcorn and a box of Raisinets (Sora's favorite), the two boys entered Theater 6 and used light from the Pepsi commercial on the screen to peer around for two open seats. There were some in the row second from the top. Not Roxas' favorite spot, but they would do. So, crawling over a family of four to get there, he and Sora sat down to enjoy the show.

"Here's your change back," Sora whispered once they'd settled in with their backpacks and provisions, handing the blond a ten dollar bill.

Roxas took it without thinking but when he went to put it away in his wallet, he saw what it was. "Wait. Sora, this is-"

"You didn't really think I was going to let you not let me treat you," the brunette smiled, "did you?"

"And besides, you bought the snacks, didn't you?" he added, seeing his date about to protest. Sora reached over and swiped some popcorn, to prove his point. Roxas opened his mouth to point out that tickets are a lot more expensive, but he didn't want be ungrateful, so he decided to let the matter go.

The discussion ended just in time. The theater's logo disappeared from the screen, and the movie began. Like all Pixar films, the animation was nothing short of amazing right from the start, though the many heaps of garbage in the opening scene were far from the oceanic wonderland of _Finding Nemo_ and the Paris skyline of _Ratatoullie_. Roxas settled back into his seat and munched on popcorn as the lead character was introduced, a small yellow robot named Wall E and his seemingly indestructible pet cockroach, toiling to clean up the endless mountains of garbage left on Earth. Roxas was pleasantly surprised to realize that the lunch box the robot carried around with him was very similar to the one Uncle Cid took to work every day. Who knew?

Sora noticed his amused smile and leaned over. "What's up?" he whispered, and Roxas shivered a little at feeling the other's breath tickle his ear.

"Tell you later," he whispered back.

Sora nodded and Roxas found himself feeling strangely disappointed then the brunette straightened in his seat again, wanting him to stay close like that. He just wished he knew some way to broach this physical affection thing without sounding silly or ignorant about it.

Up on the screen, Wall E seemed to share his sentiments. After his long day of hard work, Wall E had returned to the deployment vehicle that he'd converted into a home, playing what looked like an old sixties era musical film on a decrepit iPod while he sorted the various knickknacks he'd found amongst the garbage into their respective cubby holes. By the time he was done, the lively tap dance number had ended and a ballad had began, the actor and actress softly singing their love for one another as they held hands. Wall E sighed in a manner impressively human for a robot and grasped his own three digit appendages together, obviously lonely for someone else with which to do the same.

Roxas smiled softly, empathizing with the little yellow robot immensely. He cast a glance sideways at Sora, hoping his date had noticed the sentimental moment on screen and would imitate it.

But no, Sora was preoccupied with fishing the last of the Raisinets out of the bottom on the box, because yeah, he really had eaten them all that quickly.

Though amused at the sight of the brunette digging around in the thin yellow container like a puppy looking for its favorite bone in the backyard, Roxas slumped against the back of his seat, disheartened a little. So Sora had missed on a potentially romantic moment, it wasn't the end of the world. But it would have been so perfect, though…

Having gotten his treat, Sora looked up and noticed the slight frown on the blond's face. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly. But Roxas just shook his head and didn't say anything, watching the screen ahead of them a bit too resolutely.

Sora withdrew, feeling like he'd missed something, but couldn't figure out what. He looked down at the box of candy in his hand. He'd managed to free the last three raisins that had been stuck on the bottom, but it really didn't seem important anymore.

Wordlessly, he offered them to Roxas.

Roxas blinked, surprised by the gesture and touched that Sora would give him the last of his favorite movie-going sweets, even if Roxas had been the one to buy them for him in the first place.

Smiling again, he fished two of the three remaining chocolate covered raisins from the box and moved to give the last one back to Sora. But the brunette caught his arm by the wrist, tipping it up so the last morsel tumbled into his own mouth with Roxas still holding the box.

Grinning at the other's antics, the blond sobered slightly as his date proceeded to pluck the now empty container from his grip and replaced it with his own hand, pulling Roxas closer before slouching down a little and just barely resting his head against the other's shoulder.

Roxas looked from Sora to their clasped hands and back again, his heart feeling a bit lighter than before. He scratched the back of the other's hand, to show his gratitude, but Sora just looked up at him, smiling that happy smile that he always did and snuggling a little closer.

Roxas could have kissed him then, theater full of other people or no, but settled for giving his boyfriend's unruly brown mop a quick nuzzle before looking forward again, just in time for Eve to make her rather explosive debut.

-o-o-o-

The walk to the train station more than an hour later was easier than the one to the theater in more ways than one. It had been such an adorable and tender-hearted movie, it make everything seem softer somehow between the young couple strolling through town side by side, hand in hand. Discreetly cuddling for the latter two thirds of the movie had definitely helped Roxas to mellow out a little in the affection department. He was still a little apprehensive about holding Sora's hand in public, but rather than not holding hands at all (Roxas could tell that Sora kinda really wanted to), they stuck to the side streets and alleyways were it was more deserted and the blond could relax a little. They did get a funny and none-too-friendly look from the old man who ran the junk yard when they passed him as he let himself into the back of his shop, but that geezer was like that to everybody, so Roxas did his best to ignore him.

They talked about stuff whenever either of them thought of something, but the silences that sometimes followed weren't as heavy, and without the distraction of words, Roxas found that he was actually better able to focus on Sora being there beside him. It was nice.

Thus Roxas was caught off guard a bit when Sora suddenly pulled on the blond, stopping him before he could step out from behind the next building and into the main street. It seemed they had arrived at the train station, only two buildings over from the mouth of the alley. Roxas could see the ledge he, Hayner, Olette, and Pence always sat on high up on the clock tower. The blond felt a little sad, he didn't want their date to end yet.

It seemed that Sora didn't, either. "So, I guess this is it for today, huh?" he said shyly, looking down at their clasped hands for a moment before meeting the other's eye.

"Guess so," Roxas replied. A bit of the awkward feeling from before had returned, but no so intensely as before. "Kinda short, but still nice overall. I had fun," he said, smiling to show his appreciation.

To his surprise, Sora reddened slightly. "Me, too," the brunette replied, rubbing the back of his neck in what Roxas had come to recognize as his trademark nervous gesture. That puzzled the blond. Why was Sora nervous?

But then, Roxas glanced down at the other's hand, still entwined in his, and considered that he himself had been very flustered on this date as well. Sora always seemed so confident, but why shouldn't he be a little unsure about their new relationship, too? Sure, the brunette had more experience than him when it came to this kind of stuff, but that didn't mean they were all good ones, nor did it mean Sora was an expert on relationships. The brunette was allowed his reservations, too.

Still, it was kinda nice, knowing that he wasn't the only one having trouble bridging the gap between casual camaraderie and romance. Sora didn't know everything about dating, so it was okay if Roxas didn't either.

Cheered by this new thought, the blond decided right then and there to start taking the initiative in this relationship more and to stop expecting Sora to all the time. That settled, Roxas braced his other hand on the other's shoulder and leaned in, intending to kiss him as a thank you for the date. Seeing what he was about to do, Sora met him half way.

His skin was warm in the slight evening chill. It wasn't as deep or as passionate as the kiss at the party, they couldn't afford to lose themselves here. But it was no less sweet, lips lingering on lips.

Still, as the kiss ended and they slowly pulled away, Roxas was pleased to see that Sora's cheeks were just as flushed as his were.

"See you tomorrow, then?" the brunette asked softly, arms still wrapped firmly around the other's waist.

Roxas nodded. "Bye, Puppy," he said, still a bit breathless. Sora gave him a quick kiss on the lips again and they let each other go with obvious reluctance before heading out onto the main plaza together. Sora went left and disappeared into the throng of commuters coming and going from the station. Roxas turned right and headed for home.

All in all, today had gone well, he thought. It wasn't without its complications, but still a good first date. There would be many more awkward moments in this relationship before they got it right, figuring it out together as they went along. And wasn't that how love's supposed to be?

Roxas was smiling the whole way home.

-o-o-o-

A.N. So yeah, it's short. But I wanted their first date to be nice and easy, nothing too elaborate. Poor Roxas-kupo was stressed out about it enough as it was. He just needs time to get used to this new phase of their relationship is all, don't worry. :)

And I know _Wall E_ has been out of theaters for so long that it's already out on DVD. But it's a Pixar, one of my favorite film companies, which I consider to be half-Disney anyway (kinda like Kingdom Hearts), it's really good, and the holding hands theme it had going on was a perfect way to break the ice between Sora and Roxas. That said, I'd like to mention I've decided that Disney does exist as a film company in the MKoG universe, but it only does live action movies, like _The Parent Trap_, _Mary Poppins_, _National Treasure_, _Pirates of the Caribbean_, etc. Just so we're clear, okay?

And speaking of movies, in a rather shocking development (seriously, I was staring at my monitor open mouthed for like five minutes), it has been confirmed that our own beloved Jesse McCartney will be starring in the 2010 film, _The Last Airbender,_ based off the wildly popular animated series _Avatar, The Last Airbender_, of which I am a huge fan, as none other than emo prince Zuko. Oh, and the guy who plays Jasper Hale in_ Twilight_ is playing Sokka. Who'da thunk?

Cool! Love ya, guys! And Happy Holidays!

10/26/09 Edit: So it turned out McCartney didn't get the part, after all. Scheduling conflicts, I think. Oh, well.


	12. Chapter 12

A.N. My only excuse for how long this took (and it's shortness, when you get down to it) is that I'm still trying to slowly wean myself out of my dry writing spell by not overloading myself with too much too soon (the latest chapter of _Shadow_ notwithstanding because that thing practically wrote itself). The good news is that since I did cut this off a little early, I now have a very solid idea of at least the next three chapters or so of _MKoG_, which will hopefully translate into less waiting time until the next one for all of you. :D Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 12

-o-o-o-

See, this is why Roxas, Pence, Olette, and Hayner could never go check out movies together.

"_Nacho Libre_?"

"No."

"_Sahara_?"

"Hate it."

"_Public Enemies_? Batman vs. Jack Sparrow."

"_Captain_ Jack Sparrow. And pass."

"_Transformers_?"

"Nah, we just saw the sequel."

"_Johnny English_?"

"I barbequed my copy of that over the bonfire last summer, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

"_Edward Scissorhands_?"

"Mm, too sad. Maybe some other time."

"_Star_ _Trek_'s not out yet, is it?"

"Nope."

"Damn."

"_Balls of Fury_?"

"Too cheesy."

"_Starship Troopers_?"

"Too stupid."

"_Eragon_?"

"No."

"_Borat_?"

"Hell no."

"_Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_?"

"You already used your Depp quota for the week with _Sweeney Todd_, Pence. No Johnny."

"Aww…!"

"_Yes Man_?"

"Ooh, good one! I'm up for it!"

"Checked out."

"Crap…"

"_The Incredible Hulk_, _Kill Bill_, or _Clerks_?"

"Nope, nah, and no."

It took them forever to decide on _anything_.

"Hey, they got _CSI: Miami _over here," Roxas said, looking through the list of episodes on each disc.

"I don't really like that show," Olette demurred absently, reading the summary of _Rat Race_.

"Really?" her blond friend asked her, a bit surprised. He had (admittedly less than legal) copies of the entire original series back in Midgar. Olette shook her head.

"What about _The Mentalist_, then?" Roxas suggested. "It's kinda like _Psych_, except more serious and less eighties references."

"Way ahead of you, Rox, and they don't have it," Pence informed them. He was manning the card catalogue while Roxas, Olette and Hayner roamed the stacks looking for movies to check out. Being the perpetually broke teenagers that they were, the four friends frequented the local library for stuff to watch on Friday nights like tonight, instead of going to the video store. Besides being free, there were a lot of older and lesser known but still good movies that you just couldn't get at Blockbuster.

"Hey! Roxas!" Hayner called from somewhere over by the T's.

"What's up?" the other blond answered. Hayner held up a DVD case for him to see, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Roxas immediately started laughing. It was that show that they'd first bonded over as kids.

Of course, Hayner seemed to be happy just browsing for himself as much as actually helping the rest of them find something to watch. "Ooh!" he said a minute later, springing up from behind the row of shelves. "_Saw V_!"

"_No!_" Roxas and Olette objected immediately. Both of them_ hated_ horror movies.

Hayner actually pouted. "But it's _Saw_-"

"No, Hayner," Olette said in a tone that wouldn't be argued with. "That series never should have gotten a sequel. What are they on now, _Saw VI_?"

"How about _The Mist_?"

"No."

"_Cloverfield_?"

"The unholy child of _Godzilla_ and _The Blair Witch Project_? No."

The sandy-blond's shoulders slumped in dejection. "Not even _Shawn of the Dead_?" he pleaded. "C'mon, it's October. Halloween season. _Please?_"

Roxas and Olette looked at each other. It wasn't often that Hayner reduced himself to begging like this. Still, they shook their heads at him. Defeated, Hayner slunk back to his section of the stacks.

"What are we looking for, anyway?" Pence asked. "What do we feel like tonight?"

Olette considered that for a minute. She was usually the best at figuring out how they were feeling as a group. "Oldie-but-goodie," she decided. "Something we haven't seen in a while."

"_300_?" Pence suggested.

Olette made a face. "Please, no over glorified sausage fests tonight, okay guys?"

Roxas tried not to look too disappointed.

"We could watch _Batman Begins _or_ Spiderman_," Hayner offered. Even if he wasn't going to get his gore and horror, as long as it had guns, swords, aliens, really fast cars, or something blew up, Hayner was happy.

"Nah," Roxas said. "Too many superhero movies lately. Although…"

The blond walked two isles over to another shelf. "How about _Robin Hood: Men in Tight_s? It's Mel Brooks, can't go wrong."

"Mm… maybe. Something with a bit more polish, though," Olette said. "I want something that's a _film_, you know?"

"Got it!" Pence declared. He sauntered over to a shelf and pulled out a DVD. "_Mask of Zorro_!"

Actually, that was a pretty good choice, Roxas thought and the others agreed. Good story, good action, great music, plus Catherine Zeta-Jones for Hayner and Pence, and Antonio Banderas for him and Olette. Perfect. _Zorro_ it was.

Now, if only they could do this in less than half an hour next time, they'd be in business.

The evening's entertainment finally having been decided upon, Hayner and Pence were sent ahead with the mission to procure sufficient popcorn and other snacks while Roxas and Olette stayed behind to check out the movie.

As they waited in line for the circulation desk, Olette said quietly to her friend, "So I was thinking of asking Hayner out tomorrow…"

Roxas, who had been looking over a display of mystery novels, didn't hear her at first. "Say wha?"

Rolling her eyes at him, the girl repeated, "So I was thinking of asking Hayner out on a date tomorrow."

The blond looked at her, a little confused. "Isn't that what you guys have been doing for the last few weeks? Or did I miss something?"

"Well, yeah," Olette admitted, "but that was mostly just hanging out alone together kind of stuff. I mean like a _real_ date. It's been a month since that party, so, I dunno, I thought it was time we could step things up a notch."

Roxas frowned thoughtfully. Much to Olette and Hayner's (and everybody else's who knew them, for that matter) mutual relief, the combined party for the blitzball/dueling teams had finally given the two lovebirds the push they needed to get the ball between them rolling. Since then, while still continuing to hang out with Roxas and Pence of course, they had also taken to wandering off by themselves from time to time. For their part, Roxas and Pence (also known as the third and fourth wheels, respectively) tried to make things easier for them by suddenly remembering they had somewhere else to be, leaving the fledgling couple to themselves. Nobody was fooled by this in the least, but Roxas knew his friends were grateful nonetheless.

Still, now that he thought about it, a proper date probably was in order, to keep the momentum going, you know?

"What did you have in mind?" Roxas asked.

Olette shrugged, blushing a little. "That's just it. I'm stumped."

Roxas pretended to falter mid-step, gaping at the girl in mock horror. "What's this? _My_ Olette, _my_ little matchmaker girl is out of ideas for romantic dates, and with her own guy no less?" he teased. "Cue the trumpets and release the horsemen! Armageddon is coming! _Ahh!_"

She elbowed him, grinning. "Oh, shut up! It's not that, it's just… I want to do something special, something different. But we've been friends so long…"

"What haven't you guys done together?" Roxas supplied helpfully.

"Exactly!" Olette exclaimed.

Here the conversation paused for a minute as they finally reached the front of the line. Once they were all checked out, out the door and on their way again, Olette continued.

"It's like this," she said. "We've been to the movies a gazillion times, ditto with bike riding and rollerblading around town together and all that. It's not cold enough for ice skating yet, but too cold for the beach anymore. Picnics on Sunset Hill, minigolf, getting ice cream together, and even going to most the museums and stuff around town we've already been to-"

"Nice to see you're not obsessing over this," Roxas interrupted her, a little taken aback that she could say all that in one breath.

Olette nodded forlornly. "It feels like we've done _everything_. So what's left?"

"Stuff we're not legally old enough to do yet," he answered her shrewdly.

Olette hummed in agreement. "That's why I'm asking you, Roxas. You and Sora have been going out for a while, now. I thought maybe you could come up with something."

"Well," the blond said. "…What about bowling?"

Almost right away, though, he knew it wouldn't do. The four of them _always_ went to Twilight Lanes and Billiards for Pence's birthday.

Olette just looked at him.

"Alright, alright. Hey, what about pulling a prank together. Hayner'd love that."

The brunette grinned at him. "I thought we'd save that till it's a little closer to Halloween. Better chance we'll get away with it."

"Ooh, any ideas so far?" Though Roxas was usually Hayner's partner in crime, having Olette get in on the action a little didn't bother him in the least. She was actually quite sneaky when she wanted to be. After all, Olette was the one to come up with saran wrapping Hayner to his bed for April Fool's Day last year. Roxas was sorry he missed it, being back in Midgar. But lucky him, Olette and Pence had gotten the whole thing on video.

"We were thinking of releasing goldfish into all the fountains around town, but we're not sure they won't just get eaten by the seagulls, so it's back to the drawing board for now."

Her concern was well founded. Seagulls were like the vultures of the sea, garbage disposals of the animal world. They'd eat _anything_. Olette was very much an animal lover and wouldn't stand to put them into situations where they'd be in danger, even if it was just a bunch of fish for a prank.

Roxas frowned, thinking hard. "You could bake cookies together," he suggested, "though I can't guarantee Hayner won't just eat the whole batch raw."

Just last week, he and Sora had gone apple picking together and then made a pie back at the Leonharts' house. Sora told Roxas later that Raine was seriously considering adopting him after she found out the blond could cook and bake so well. Apparently the whole 'way to the heart is through the stomach' thing worked for the whole family.

"Hayner's forbidden from using either his or my oven by our mothers, remember?" Olette reminded him pointedly, and Roxas had a mini-flashback of the time their friend had tried to make a pizza that had somehow exploded.

"Oh yeah. How did he do that again?"

"Not sure entirely, but we think Pop Rocks may or may not have been involved."

"Ah."

But something about that day in the Islands with Sora triggered something in the back of Roxas' head. Something Raine had been telling them… Oh, yeah!

"Well, if you've already done everything_ in_ town," the blond told his friend, "get _outta_ town."

Olette frowned at him, confused. "Come again?"

"There's a new theme park in Destiny Islands that just opened," Roxas said. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it earlier. "It's called Enchanted… Forest? Enchanted Realm? I dunno, Enchanted something…"

A light went off behind the girl's eyes. "You mean Enchanted Dominion?"

"Yeah, that's it! Sora's mom was telling me about it. Maybe you and Hayner should go there."

"You know," Olette said thoughtfully. "I think Kairi was talking about trying to get a job there or something. She'd probably know."

The boy grinned at her. "New. Exciting. Guaranteed to be romantic. Just what you were looking for."

Olette pulled him into a one arm hug. "What would I do without you?"

Roxas returned the gesture warmly. "Crash and burn, babe. Just like what I would do without you."

-o-o-o-

Later that night as Roxas lay in bed, waiting to fall asleep, he thought about something Olette said.

If it really had been a month since the party (and it had been a month, Roxas noted, going over the dates mentally in his head), then he and Sora had been going out for a month, as well.

Holy crud.

It seemed like it was only last week that he and Sora had kissed each other goodbye in the alley behind the train station. They'd shared quite a few more kisses since then, of course, but between school and dueling practice, they'd only managed one other true date.

Sora had taken him kayaking around the Islands. It had been breathtaking and a lot of fun, but not use to such intense repetitious exercise (and probably still a little worn out from practice that morning) Roxas' arms had given out on him not a quarter way along the route Sora had planned for them. So they ended up spending the rest of the afternoon on the Children's Island, swimming, playing in the sand, having another splashing contest (Roxas lost again spectacularly), and taking turns on the zip line. Sora even showed him the Secret Place, a little cave on the Island just behind the main waterfall.

That had been two weeks ago, and other than hanging out at school and each other's houses a bit (like the pie making afternoon), Sora and Roxas hadn't really done anything together since.

Maybe it was time they planned a special date themselves.

Roxas briefly considered calling up Olette and asking if she would mind teaming up with him and Sora for a double date (it would probably help take some of the pressure off her and Hayner, now that he thought of it), but dismissed the idea. If she had wanted friends along to make it easier, Olette would have asked him and Pence to come.

Besides, now that he was aware of it, Roxas wanted to do something kinda special to commemorate his and Sora's first month together. It wasn't an anniversary; romantic though he was, Roxas did not keep track of his relationships so precisely as to count the days.

More, it was a milestone. As far as high school romances go, making it to a month quite an achievement. So Roxas decided he wanted to do a special little something to celebrate. Nothing fancy, but still something meaningful, significant. He and Sora had come a long way in four plus weeks.

And as he finally drifted off to sleep, Roxas smiled to himself. He knew just the thing…

-o-o-o-

A.N. In other news, I've been playing _KH Re:CoM_ for about two months now. And it keeps _kicking my ass, dammit_! I can _not_ figure out the card and battle system. Help?


	13. Chapter 13

A.N. All scientific names are in _italics_.

-o-o-o-

**My Kind of Guy**

-o-o-o-

Chapter 13

-o-o-o-

Roxas decided to ask his boyfriend about it the first chance he got. Though that was the very next day, unfortunately, the dueling team had a meet with the team from Bevelle. Between cheering for his teammates and fighting in his own match, it was a while before he found a moment with Sora.

Right from the beginning of the meet, Roxas had had the supreme misfortune of running into Wen Kinoc, the very same snide jerk he'd fought against in the tournament, effectively spoiling the cheerful mood he'd been in that morning. Roxas had since beaten out Chappu for the third sword position, so he didn't have to duel Kinoc again, but he did have to endure the jerk's arrogant leer grate on his teammate instead. Chappu let it get to him in the first round and lost as a result, but after a pep-talk from Auron and Sora during the break, the red-haired freshman got himself together and thoroughly clean Kinoc's clock in the next two rounds to win the match.

Unfortunately, the change in positions also meant that now Roxas and Sora fought their matches at the same time. The blond was a little disappointed he wasn't able to watch his boyfriend pull off yet another resounding victory. But winning against his own opponent, some dark-haired kid named Maroda, went quite a ways toward cheering him up, and earned Roxas a nod of approval from Auron, a congratulatory one-armed hug from Sora which he returned, and a knowing smirk from Cloud.

In the end, though, it really wasn't all that surprising that Twilight Town walked away with the win. Bevelle had fought hard to boot, but the likes of the Strifes, the Leonharts, the Three Kings, and the rest were just too much for the poor big city boys to handle.

Or that's what the exuberant victors told themselves on the bus ride home, anyway. Amid hearty cheers and verbal replays, one of the guys in front jokingly asked Nooj if this meant the team could throw another party at his house again.

"Like hell I'm letting your smelly asses near my couch again!" Nooj called back, provoking many laughs and friendly jeers from his teammates.

"Man, can you believe that party was a month ago? Feels like last week," Sora said to Roxas, who was sitting next to him as usual.

"Actually, I was just thinking about that," the blond replied quietly. "It's a milestone for us, kinda. I thought we could do something to celebrate."

"Celebrate?" Sora echoed, adorably confused. "You mean, about beating Bevelle?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "No," he told Captain Oblivious, "it's been a month since…"

With a meaningful look, the blond carefully trailed a finger across Sora's hand. They were sitting in the back together again, but he was still cautious with so many people around. Sora blinked at the contact. "Oh," he said quietly, "I guess it has. Heh, guess it just snuck up on us."

"You wanna do something?" Roxas repeated, giving the other's hand a gentle squeeze then letting go.

Sora reached forward so their pinkies were still touching. "Did you have something in mind?"

-o-o-o-

Tucked away on the east side of town, outside of the wall and on the edge of the great grass plains that stretched from the town all the way north to the distant mountains, was the Twilight Arboretum. Though the hamlet was not lacking in greenery, the local institution, Bugenhagen University, had created the Arboretum decades ago as a park for residents and as a living laboratory for horticultural and botanical research and education.

It was Roxas' favorite place in all of Twilight Town.

Unlike the compact and scattered little parks around town, the Arboretum was wide and open space, broken up only here and there by trees or a hill, the grass unchecked by cement or brick. There were gravel bike paths, a one-and-a-quarter mile jogging trail, a small wood, wildlife ponds, some hills that made for wicked sledding during the few times it actually snowed in the winter, and an oriental tea house. Nearly one hundred and sixty acres in all.

But what Roxas truly loved about the Arboretum were its gardens- and he wanted to share them with Sora.

There were four gardens. The first was the modest Zen garden next to the tea house on the south side, with an impressive collection of miniature bonsai trees. A patch of gravel in the center was raked to look like waves on a lake, and the path leading up to it was lined in cherry trees, though the spring blooming season was long since over.

The second and third were the rose and idea gardens. So close they were almost right on top of each other, these two were more traditional. The rose garden especially was the least ornate, despite being the most common variety of garden in the Arboretum. Most of the roses were of the more modern kind and various shades of pink, red, yellow, orange, and white, though there was one that was lavender. It was small too, easily crossed in a dozen strides.

The idea garden, as the name suggested, was a place to display the latest styles and trends in home gardening, and for the master gardeners of the university to show off their talents. Surrounded by a white wood picket fence and divided into four sections with a white gazebo and benches in the middle, there was the sensory garden, a vegetable garden with real produce of all kinds growing in it (and signs requesting visitors not eat anything). Then there was a theme garden, this season's themes being a tropical section, a rock garden, jewel box garden, medicinal plants, topiaries, and a bog, and a children's garden.

Sora got a real kick out of this last section. Not only was there a small sandbox (in which Sora insisted on writing his name as a memento to passersby), but also a collection of figurines from the nursery rhyme of the lady who lived in the shoe (including a five foot tall shoe) to a miniature wooden bridge over a dry, artificial brook. The brook had smooth blue-gray stones on the bottom, a good mimic for ripples on water, and a sculpture of a crocodile just beside the bridge, as if waiting to snatch the toes off any feet foolish enough to step on its creek. The croc was even divided into three segments to imitate being partially submerged.

The true gem of the Arboretum however, and the crown jewel of Bugenhagen's horticulture department, was the Memorial Garden.

As they passed the six foot evergreen shrubs that bordered the garden proper, Sora whistled softly. "Wow."

Hidden from view by a double line of tall birch trees, the garden was a full three acres squared. The main beds, three concentric diamonds with the edges rounded off, were sunk a meter or so into the earth, with stairs descending at the middle of each side and points of the diamond leading down to it. In the center was a patch of grass in the shape of an eight pointed star. Off each of the broad sides of the main diamond was a small triangular bower. Wooden awnings had been erected on the outermost sides over the beds of those flowers that required shade. Thick boxwood shrubs and maple trees provided further shade and seclusion. Though already autumn, almost all the flowers were still in full bloom. The entire complex was simply rows upon rows of color, like Mother Nature had dropped her paint box here.

For such a special and beautiful place, the garden was surprisingly unknown amongst the populace of the town. Horticulture wasn't exactly widely advertised, so it remained a kind of open secret.

Roxas preferred it that way. This place was special to him. Even though it was open to the public, this was his secret place. This was where Roxas went when he wanted to be alone or needed to get away for a while. The beauty and tranquility of the garden seemed to seep into him, and Roxas knew he could always find peace here, no matter what.

Of course, Roxas had only ever been to the gardens during the height of summer when all the flowers were in bloom. But this year, busy as he was, between schoolwork and dueling, Roxas hadn't been by since moving to Twilight Town. He was usually very particular about being alone here. Roxas didn't even come with Hayner, Pence, and Olette all that often. But it felt appropriate to him somehow to have Sora here with him the first time he came to the garden outside of summer.

So he thought it was just really fitting for their one-month date to be here. Because like seeing the garden in a new season for the first time, being in a relationship with Sora was allowing Roxas to begin to see himself in a new light for the first time. It was a new season of his life Roxas was coming into, because of Sora, and the blond wanted his boyfriend to be there.

He'd really been hoping his boyfriend would be impressed. It had been a bit of a gamble, taking him here. With the kinds of gorgeous tropical landscapes Sora was used to, there was a good chance a place like this would come off as… less impressive.

So he was immensely pleased, though, as Sora went quiet, his blue eyes becoming thoughtful at seeing the garden for the first time.

"You like it?" Roxas asked him.

The cinnamon haired boy nodded slowly, looking around. He started down the steps to the garden proper. Roxas followed right behind him, and they passed a sign that read, "Research Area – No Dogs Beyond This Point."

"Guess that means you, puppy," Roxas teased. Sora grinned and reached over to tickle his boyfriend, the blond quickly dancing out of range.

Not wanting Sora to try again, Roxas distracted the other boy by telling him about the kinds of plants that were grown here. Though they looked to be no different that the kind found in any typical nursery or garden center, all the plants here were germinated from experimental seeds cultivated by the university and other institutions it was affiliated with. Whether they be just new color combinations or more resistant to disease, all the new strains of plants that the biologists could come up with were tested here. And at the end of every summer, representatives of the universities as well as garden centers and nurseries from around the country gathered here to select which varieties would be grown commercially next season.

It also made figuring out which flower was which something of a challenge. As a self-respecting research facility, the plants were identified only by their scientific names on black rectangular plaques that accompanied them.

Roxas and Sora spent the better part of an hour wandering around, trying to match the flowers to more familiar names. The ones they did manage to identify were _pelargonium_ (geraniums), _digitalis _(foxglove), _chamaesyce _(a type of poinsettia, also called "akoko" on the Islands, according to Sora),), _celosia _(cockscombs), _dianthus_ (carnation),), _verbena _(vervain), _rudbeckia_ (coneflower), _myosotis_ (forget-me-not), _lathyrus_ (sweet pea), _antirrhinum_ (snapdragon), and _bidens_ (tickseed sunflowers, or "koko'olau" or "ko'oko'olau." Kairi and Namine's grandmother used it to brew tea).

There were the more common varieties; _zinnias_,_ dahlias_,_ sedum_,_ petunia_,_ gardenia _(almost every green space back on the Islands had some), _cosmos_,_ hibiscus _the size of dinner plates, _begonia_, _impatiens_ (the mascot of tropical resorts the world over), and many others Sora said Aerith would kill for. She was big on flowers, Roxas remembered.

There were also a few little yellow-orange morning glories climbing up the shade awnings, but it wasn't clear if they were supposed to be there or not.

Sora lamented the noticeable lack of true blue flowers. "I guess since there's so much blue in the sky, Mother Nature though any more would be too much."

It wasn't just all flowers, though, either; there was _salvia_ (known as sage, from the mint family), _buxus_ (boxwood), _hosta_ (day or plantation lily), _colocasia_ (colloquially called elephant's ear, and very appropriately so), _lauraceae_ (laurel), _solenostemon_ (formerly and still commonly called coleus, and seemed to come in _every_ color), and _papyrus_. Specimens of eggplant and tomato plants were also featured.

Roxas was a little surprised to discover they grew _nicotiana_ here- which most Latin-ignorant people called the tobacco plant. It was perfectly legal, of course. But growing it unprotected on a college campus did seem like asking for a little trouble. Still, it did not escape his notice that the garden also featured a selection on _lobelia_ plants next to the _nicotiana_. _Lobelia_ was often used in quit-smoking programs.

Sora was genuinely delighted when he found the ornamental _capsicum_ (chili pepper plants). The peppers themselves ranged in color from bright yellow to deep purple in color, and came in a multitude of shapes from thin and kind of gnarley, to fat and bulbous ones that, combined with the deep green leaves, looked not unlike a mini tropical Christmas tree. Roxas was only able to dissuade Sora from testing some for their worthiness on the Scoville scale by firmly pointing out that there were no water fountains nearby should reprieve be necessary.

Finally, after over two hours of running around and having fun, they both collapsed on the patch of grass at the center, tired but happy.

It was truly a gorgeous day and the weather was perfect. It was autumn now, and while it was rarely truly cold here, being so close to the tropics, the light northerly wind coming down from the distant mountains was just this side of cool. Sunset was approaching now, and with everyone likely gathering in the west side of town to watch, the east was mostly deserted. Indeed, the two boys had the entire vicinity to themselves, concerned with nothing more than enjoying the garden, the weather, and each other's company.

Sora leaned back against his elbows, staring up into the sky that was his namesake, watching the lazy white puffs of clouds drift by above. Beside him, Roxas dozed lightly, curled up under his boyfriend's jacket. He was still tired from the grueling dueling match against Bevelle the day before.

Roxas felt a finger brush his cheek and opened his eyes. The bright periwinkle sky dazed him for a moment but then saw Sora gazing down at him peacefully.

"This is really cool, kupo," he said, smiling gently. "Thanks for bringing me here."

"You're welcome," Roxas murmured, and could be forgiven for feeling like the luckiest person in the world as Sora leaned down to kiss him.

Even after a month, he still hadn't gotten used to this. To that tingling, floaty feeling he got whenever Sora kissed him like this. It was still just so new to him, each time was just as magical as the first. Roxas returned the affection as earnestly as he could.

When they pulled back again, Sora asked, "How did you even find this place? I'm amazed I never heard of it before."

"A lot of people actually have heard of it at some point or another," Roxas said, sitting up. "But not many really bother to come and see it for themselves. This place is one of Twilight Town's best kept secret hideaways, and those of us that do appreciate it like to keep it that way."

"So how'd you find it, then?"

"Well," Roxas' smile dimmed a little. "It's… not a happy story, actually."

Sora frowned slightly, cocking his head to one side like he always did when he was curious about something. "Yeah? How so?"

The blond hesitated, not wanting to spoil the moment. "You know I only stayed here with my aunt and uncle during the summer before this, right?"

Sora nodded.

"Well, one summer when I was like nine or ten," Roxas told him, "I accidentally killed Cloud's pet goldfish and he got really pissed at me. Like really, really angry, so... I ran out of the house."

Sora immediately reached over to draw the other boy into his arms. "What happened?" he asked gently.

Roxas leaned against him, appreciating the gesture. It wasn't one of his happier memories of his brother. He explained that, since their mother was pretty allergic to animal hair, Roxas and Cloud never really had any pets growing. So when Cloud won a goldfish in a game at the festival that summer, both of them were pretty happy to keep it. But then, one day, they got into a snit about… something or another.

"So Cloud goes off and sulks in the basement and I'm sulking in my room -what's my room _now_, but we were sharing it back then- the fish is in a bowl on the dresser and it's starting to stink because Cloud hadn't cleaned it in a while. It only made me even more irritated with him at first, for not doing his fair share to keep our room clean and take care of the thing-"

"I would have dipped his toothbrush in it to teach him a lesson," Sora interjected, grinning. "But that's just me."

"Wish I'd thought of that," Roxas snickered a little, then sobering. "Really wish I'd thought of that. But... then I cooled down, and decided to clean it for him as a peace offering. It was a really stupid argument."

"Only… the water I'd used to refill the bowl was too warm, and about an hour later, when Cloud came in, the goldfish was floating belly up."

Sora winched in sympathy. "Ai..."

"Yeah, he was _pissed_. Cloud had never yelled at anyone like that before, nevermind me," Roxas said, the memory sending a small shiver down his spine.

Sora's expression darkened. "Roxas, the fish they keep at festivals are so poorly taken care of, they always die off in like a week," he mutterd softly, drawing the blond even closer to him. "Cloud should not have gotten so angry with you."

"Yeah, that's what Aunt Shera said. But Cloud told me later, after we'd both calmed down, that he wasn't angry because the goldfish died. He was furious because he thought I'd killed it out of spite."

"Because you two'd been fighting?"

Roxas nodded. "But before that, just after he'd yelled at me, I was so upset, I ran... straight out of the house."

"Don't worry," he added, seeing the slightly hard look on Sora's face. "All this is water under the bridge between Cloud and me now, puppy, I promise. We sorted everything out later, after I got home again. And to be fair, I don't think he'd really called down from before when he yelled at me. Uncle Sid grounded us both for a week, either way. He had us cleaning so many engine parts, I thought my arms were gonna fall off."

"Still...," the brunette mumbled. Sora was nothing if not protective of those he cared about. Part of Roxas was supremely happy the brunette was getting defensive on his behalf. It meant Roxas was among those lucky people.

"Anyway," he went on, "I meant to go over to Hayner's house, but I'd only ever ridden there on my bike before, so... I got lost. Then I wandered around for a while, and-"

"And you ended up _here_?" Sora asked, incredulous. "Doesn't Hayner live over by school?"

"To his eternal displeasure, yes," Roxas smiled. If he had a dollar- no, a quarter. If Roxas had a _quarter_ for every time he'd heard Hayner complain about his home's close proximity to their current educational facility, Roxas could afford to buy his best friend a new place of residence elsewhere. It'd be worth it just to get him to shut up about it.

"But… that's how I found this place. I'm actually kinda glad about it, too," he replied, and explained to Sora about the garden's significance to him, about how peaceful it always was for him and all the times just being here had helped him; like when Roxas found out Cloud was moving, or he'd gotten into an argument with one of his friends (or, back before they got together, trying to come to terms that Sora probably wouldn't return his affections, but Roxas didn't mention that particular example to the brunette). And it wasn't just dealing with negative emotions, either. Sora grinned as Roxas told him about all the times he'd come here trying to get his head to stop swimming in circles after watching the latest episode of _Lost_.

"That's really cool, kupo," Sora said, smiling gently, looking at the incredible beauty surrounding them before gazing down at the golden-haired boy still snuggled in his arms. "I'm really glad you brought me here. Thanks."

"You're welcome," the blond replied, suddenly feeling a little shyly. "I… this place is special to me, so I wanted you to see it."

"Quiet, dignified, absolutely beautiful. Fits you perfectly, kupo," Sora mused aloud, smiling at the rosy glow on Roxas' face and brushed a soft kiss against his temple, which he then gladly returned.

It occurred to Roxas then that the Arboretum gardens was probably the only place in Twilight Town he could be so comfortable with being affectionate with Sora out in the open like this. Roxas was in no way ashamed of his relationship with the cinnamon-haired young man, just shy about his personal life in general. He disliked the scrutiny.

But it wasn't just the place that helped him set aside his usual reserved demeanor, Roxas realized. It was his present company, too. Sora helped him to just... let go and be himself. The epiphany warmed him, and he kissed Sora all the more deeply because of it.

After a few more long, quiet moments, Sora pulled only a breath away, murmuring, "Roxas? Did I ever tell you-"

Unfortunately, whatever the brunette was going to say was cut off by a loud growl from the boy's stomach, startling them both and ruining the moment. Sora grinned apologetically and Roxas sighed.

"You really are a bottomless pit, you know that, puppy?" he said, exasperated but still smiling. They'd just had lunch before this, though to be fair that was over two hours ago.

He sat up and Sora let him with obvious reluctance. "I can't help it…," he whined, still a little sheepish.

"I know," the blond reassured him, smiling. He stood up, dusting the bits of grass off of his pants.

Sora also got to his feet. "I guess we should be going, anyway. 'S getting late."

Roxas hummed a little sadly in agreement. As much as he treasured every minute alone with Sora, it really was time to go. Still, it wouldn't do to end the evening on a down note.

"C'mon then, you. I think there's still some taco salad left at home that _might_ last you the trip back to the Islands," the blond teased. He took the other boy by the hand, leading the way to the exit.

"Ha ha, very funny," Sora deadpanned, and Roxas threw a smirk over his shoulder and Sora smiled back.

But just before they left the garden proper, Sora pulled on his arm, halting him. "Wait," he said, frowning. "If you were lost on the first time here, how did you get home then?"

"A cop found me a little while later over there-" Roxas motioning back to one of the benches. "-and he took me home. No biggie."

After a moment, he snickered. "You know what the funniest part of all that was?"

"What?"

"Hayner was so mad that I got sent home in the back of a squad car before he did, ha ha!"

And Sora laughed along with him.

-o-o-o-

That evening, sometime after dinner when everyone in the household had dispersed to their own activities, Roxas found Cloud at his desk, finishing some homework. Though the door was open, he knocked anyway. Cloud looked up. "Hey," he greeted before returning to his books.

"Hey," Roxas returned quietly, wandering into the room but still staying mostly by the door. "…You remember that time we had a fight about your goldfish and I ran away?"

Cloud paused again. "Yeah…," he replied, uncertain where his brother was taking this. It wasn't something he liked to dwell on, understandably.

The younger blond looked equally uncomfortable for a moment. "Well, it's just... Sora and I were talking about it today, and I… um, well…"

"It got me thinking about stuff, and I just wanted to say that... I know I've put you through a lot of crap since... well, I'm sorry," he said, looking down at his socks. "And I really appreciate you still being there for me."

Cloud was silent for a moment, then stood up from his desk and walked over to his brother, placing his hands on the younger blond's shoulders.

"You're welcome," he said simply. "And you will always be welcome."

Roxas looked up at him then, and his eyes shined brightly with what may have been tears for a moment before hugging Cloud around the middle, burying his face in the other's shirt.

Likewise, Cloud wrapped his arms firmly around his younger brother, and rocked him gently.

-o-o-o-

A.N. The above is a mostly faithful depiction of the University of Illinois Arboretum, specifically the Miles C. Hartley Selections Gardens, as they appeared last fall (except the bonsai trees; those are from the Morikami Gardens in South Florida). They're probably bare right now, but while in full bloom that place never fails to quietly take my breath away. If anybody's ever down in Champaign during the late spring to early fall, I strongly encourage you to go see them.

And as for what the heck was going on with Cloud and Roxas in that last scene, well, I'll just say that there'd more parallels to Roxas' life in _MKoG_ and his life in the games than current appearances would suggest. And that's _all_ I'm going to tell you for now, because I'm evil like that. :D

Oh, it feels so good to be updating again! And Happy Easter!


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